Georgia Tech’s civil and environmental engineering chair named dean of engineering at Rice University

Rice University News & Media

Reginald DesRoches will join Rice faculty July 1
Reginald DesRoches, chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will become dean of Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering July 1.
Reginald DesRoches
A fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, DesRoches specializes in research on the design of resilient infrastructure systems under extreme loads and the application of smart and adaptive materials. He served as the key technical leader in the United States’ response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
“The George R. Brown School of Engineering is a critical element in Rice’s national and international identity,” said Provost Marie Lynn Miranda. “We undertook a broad and thorough search that included extensive engagement with all stakeholder groups. In Dr. DesRoches, we found a world-class scholar, an award-winning educator, an innovative problem-solver, a collaborative and consultative leader, a creative and compelling communicator and a person of tremendous vision for engineering and higher education more widely. I am delighted that Reggie has agreed to join us at Rice and very much look forward to working with him. I am grateful for the hard work of the search committee. This is a great development for Rice.”
DesRoches joined the faculty of Georgia Tech in Atlanta as an assistant professor in 1998 after completing his Ph.D. in structural engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2002 he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given to scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. He became a professor in 2008, and in 2012 he was named the Karen and John Huff School Chair and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering – a position in which he provides leadership to a top-ranked program with 100 faculty and staff and more than 1,150 students.
As chair, DesRoches has overseen a $13.5 million renovation of the ...

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