Fuchs

Cornell Provost Biddy Martin has announced the reappointment of W. Kent Fuchs as the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering for a second five-year term. The appointment, which was approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees at its September meeting, is effective July 1, 2007.

"I am delighted that Kent has agreed to continue as dean of the College of Engineering," said Martin. "He is a spectacular administrator and has made significant contributions to the quality and vitality of the college. Kent provides strong and effective leadership, and I look forward to what the college will achieve over the next few years."

During Fuchs' term as dean, the College of Engineering initiated a collaborative strategic planning process to place the college in a position of national leadership (see http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/strategicplan). Several components of the college's strategic plan have already been implemented, including the formation of a new Department of Biomedical Engineering. Other components, such as revision of the undergraduate curriculum, creation of a teaching excellence institute and the development of a comprehensive facilities master plan, are currently in progress and will be completed this year. Fuchs' priorities for his second term include a focus on the strategic research areas defined in the college's plan and enhancing the college's faculty and student diversity.

Fuchs, formerly the head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University and a professor at the University of Illinois, is a specialist in dependable computing, testing and failure diagnosis of integrated circuits.

Fuchs earned his B.S. in engineering at Duke University in 1977, his master of science degree at the University of Illinois in 1982, his master of divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1984 and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois in 1985.