Search committee formed to find new dean of the McCormick School of Engineering

Northwestern University announced today, Nov. 15, the formation of a search committee to identify the next dean of the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The individual chosen will succeed Julio Ottino, who will step down as dean at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Ottino will complete his term as dean Aug. 31, 2023 and continue to serve as Robert R. McCormick Institute Professor and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Provost Kathleen Hagerty has charged the search committee, which includes faculty, students, staff and McCormick alumni, to undertake the search to identify a slate of candidates. Mark C. Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the Materials Research Center, will chair the search. Isaacson, Miller has been retained to assist the committee.

Committee members

• Guillermo A. Ameer, Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; Professor of Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine; Director, Center for Advanced Regenerative Engineering
• Wei Chen, Wilson-Cook Professor in Engineering Design and Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Francesca Cornelli, Dean, Kellogg School of Management, Donald P. Jacobs Chair in Finance and Professor of Finance
• Carolyn Duran, Vice President and Engineering Manager, Components Research for Intel Corporation; Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; Materials Science and Engineering Advisory Board Member; McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Alumna
• Kimberly A. Gray, Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Family Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Alumna
• Chayse Lavallais, Third-year Ph.D. Student, Chemical and Biological Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
• David L. Nichols, Principal, Ernst & Young; McCormick Advisory Council Member; McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Alumnus and Kellogg School of Management Alumnus
• Luke Prairie, Undergraduate Student, Class of 2024, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
• John A. Rogers, Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; Professor of Neurological Surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine; Director, Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics
• Karen Smilowitz, James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; Professor of Operations, Kellogg School of Management
• Sara Owsley Sood, Professor of Instruction for Computer Science, Chookaszian Family Teaching Professor, and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Alumna
• Julie White, Associate Dean, Administration, Finance, Facilities and Planning, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

The committee will begin its work immediately and will engage the McCormick community to obtain input on the desired attributes and experience of the dean, understand the community’s needs and collect nominations of potential candidates for the role.

Members of the University community are invited to share feedback, submit questions and recommend candidates by contacting the search committee at McCormickDeanSearch@northwestern.edu.

The committee will be staffed by Office of the Provost staff Lorraine Cassis, executive assistant; Roma Khanna, associate provost for strategy and policy; Andrianna Kurzenberger, senior program administrator; and Mearah Quinn-Brauner, senior director for strategy and policy.