J. Cole Smith
Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer today announced that has been reappointed to a five-year term as dean of the . Today鈥檚 announcement follows a comprehensive review process that includes feedback from key stakeholders, including ECS faculty, staff and advisory board members.
鈥淚n Cole鈥檚 nearly five years as dean, the College of Engineering and Computer Science has grown stronger on multiple counts and made great strides towards reaching a new level of excellence,鈥� Provost Ritter says. 鈥淭his is an exciting time for the college, and I can think of no better leader to shepherd the students, faculty, staff and alumni into this new era.鈥�
Smith assumed leadership of ECS in October 2019. His tenure has been marked by several high points for the college. A massive renovation, which included multiple new lab spaces and the Allyn Innovation Center, served to modernize ECS buildings and facilities. The pending new Campos Student Center, supported by a recent $2 million gift that Smith helped secure, will further enhance the college鈥檚 physical space.
Smith oversaw the development of the new 黑料不打烊 Center for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, an interdisciplinary center that brings together expertise in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, manufacturing processes, optimization and robotics to advance the science of semiconductor manufacturing. He also helped launch a new master鈥檚 degree program in , as well as the .
Under Smith鈥檚 leadership, ECS research expenditures grew by 30% during the 2022-2023 academic year over 2019 levels. Enrollment, faculty size and staff size are also on track to grow by 50% in the next four years as part of a plan Smith developed. He also helped guide the college toward .
鈥淓ngineering and Computer Science is driving regional, national and international growth in areas such as advanced manufacturing, sustainable infrastructure, healthcare engineering, advanced computing technologies and materials science,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淚 have never been a part of a more exciting moment at the nexus of college, University, city and national growth. What we are doing here matters and will resonate for decades to come, and it is a true privilege to have the opportunity to realize the transformational opportunity that awaits 黑料不打烊 and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.鈥�
Smith came to 黑料不打烊 from Clemson University, where he held positions as associate provost for academic initiatives and chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering. His research focuses on integer programming and combinatorial optimization, network flows and facility location, computational optimization methods and large-scale optimization due to uncertainty or robustness considerations. In 2023, he was .
