Nationally regarded engineer and academic leader chosen for chancellor at Missouri S&T
Rolla, Missouri, May 16, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- University of Missouri System President Mun Choi today announced the appointment of Dr. Mohammad Dehghani, vice provost for research, innovation and entrepreneurship at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, as the next chancellor of Missouri University of Science and Technology. He will begin serving as chancellor on Aug. 1, 2019.
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In an internal announcement, Choi noted that Dehghani is a mechanical engineer with a track record of building faculty research teams in collaboration with national laboratories and industry. Dehghani’s appointment followed an extensive national search to identify the next leader of S&T, a technological research university that was established in 1870.
“It is with great excitement that I announce Mohammad Dehghani will serve as the 22nd leader of Missouri University of Science and Technology,” Choi said. “Mohammad is a nationally prominent research and academic leader who has experience leading complex organizations by leading with vision and building collaborative teams.
“From his current role at the distinguished Stevens Institute of Technology to his experience establishing two national research centers at Johns Hopkins University, it’s clear to me that he has the skills and expertise to help Missouri S&T reach its ambitious goals to solve some of Missouri’s — and the nation’s — most complex and urgent problems.”
Dehghani’s appointment was approved by the University of Missouri Board of Curators on Wednesday, May 15.
“Missouri S&T plays a vital role in the state, educating some of Missouri’s brightest and most innovative students,” said Jon Sundvold, chair of the Board of Curators. “As a seasoned leader with experience in formulating multidisciplinary teams and getting results, Dr. Dehghani is the right leader to usher in S&T’s next exciting chapter.”
Since August, a committee of 23 individuals with representatives from S&T faculty, staff, students and alumni helped to guide the search process.
“I thank Professor Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe and alumnus and trustee Tom Voss for serving as co-chairs of the search committee,” Choi said. “Thanks also to other members of the committee for their important work in reviewing a diverse pool of applicants and recommending the high-caliber finalists.”
For the past 22 years, Dehghani has served in executive positions at nationally prominent universities and national labs. In addition to his role at Stevens, which he has held since 2013, Dehghani was a professor of mechanical engineering and founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Systems Institute. Through that institute, he established collaborative research and application programs with many organizations, including the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Health and Human Services, with internal divisions at Hopkins including Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Whiting School of Engineering and the Applied Physics Laboratory.
Prior to joining Hopkins in 2008, Dehghani served as the New Technologies Division leader at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a $1.8 billion, 7,000-employee multidisciplinary applied science and engineering national security laboratory with programs in advanced defense technologies, energy, environment, biosciences and basic sciences. At Lawrence Livermore, Dehghani helped develop technologies and expand many areas of engineering, including biomedical engineering, nuclear engineering, process systems and the traditional engineering disciplines of mechanical engineering, electronics, fluidics, and multi-scale modeling and simulations.
He also spent a dozen years as a tenured faculty member of the mechanical engineering department at Ohio University in Athens. Additionally, Dehghani has private industry experience.
“I consider the opportunity of serving Missouri S&T as its chancellor a personal and professional honor as I recognize the recent and historic achievements of this great institution,” Dehghani said. “Missouri S&T is at an exciting point in its evolution to enhance its national standing and achieve further prominence among top public, land-grant research universities.”
The university in Rolla has been led by Interim Chancellor Christopher Maples since May 2017.
“I also want to share my appreciation for Dr. Christopher Maples, who has made important contributions to Missouri S&T,” Choi said. “He will continue in his role as interim chancellor until Dr. Dehghani arrives in August.”
Dehghani earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University. He completed a postdoctoral National Science Foundation internship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In his letter of interest for the position, Dehghani said that his general management philosophy includes being transparent, telling “truth to power,” and leading by consensus while striving to ensure that everyone is heard and understood.
Dehghani, a pilot who enjoys flying and fly fishing, is married to Mina (Saffari) Dehghani, a pharmacist. They have one son, Devon.
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Andy Careaga Missouri University of Science and Technology 573-341-7765 news@mst.edu
