UF Selects Univ. Of Mich. Department Chairman As New Engineering Dean

January 17, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Pramod P. Khargonekar, Claude E. Shannon professor and chairman of the department of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, has been selected as the new dean of the University of Florida College of Engineering, following a national search. An alumnus of the University of Florida, he will assume his new duties July 1.

“We are thrilled to have such an eminent scholar as Dr. Khargonekar return to the University of Florida to lead our College of Engineering in meeting the technological challenges of the 21st century,” said David R. Colburn, UF’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The University of Florida is justifiably proud of its engineering program and I am confident that under Dr. Khargonekar’s leadership, the College of Engineering will build a reputation equal to the best and second to none.”

Khargonekar has been on the faculty at the University of Michigan since 1989 and chairman of the department of electrical engineering and computer science, the University’s largest and one of its most distinguished, since 1997. He also serves as director of the AFOSR/ARPA MURI Research Center on Intelligent Electronics Manufacturing: Modeling and Control of Plasma Processing.

He received his doctorate in electrical engineering in 1981 and his master’s in mathematics in 1980, both from UF. He also worked as an assistant professor in the UF department of electrical engineering from 1981 to 1984.

“It’s been 17 years since I left Florida and a lot has changed there, as well as nationally, in engineering,” he said. “Working closely with faculty, students and staff, I see a great opportunity to take Florida engineering to the next level. I think there are significant opportunities at Florida — special competitive advantages that the university and state have — and I’m looking forward to realizing the potential that these opportunities present to us.”

Khargonekar added that he also is interested in increasing the UF College of Engineering’s role in Florida’s economic development.

“I see the engineering college at Florida playing an increasing role in the state’s economic development opportunities,” he said. “The college should be viewed as a statewide resource.”

Khargonekar’s awards include a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in 1985; the W.R.G. Baker Prize Paper Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1991; being named a fellow of the institute in 1993; and receiving a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India, in 1997.

He has authored or co-authored more than 260 published works, including books, book chapters, refereed journal publications and refereed conference publications. Among other examples, he co-authored Signal Processing, Parts I and II, and Robust Control Theory, in the IMA Volumes in Mathematics and its Applications.

Khargonekar met his wife, Seema, at UF, where she was a staff member at the music department. The couple have a son, Aditya, 16, and a daughter, Shivangi, 14.

Khargonekar will succeed Jack Ohanian, who has served as interim engineering dean since Winfred M. Phillips left the post to become UF vice president for research and dean of The Graduate School in 1999.