Gmachl to succeed Debenedetti as vice dean of School of Engineering

Electrical engineering professor Claire Gmachl will succeed chemical and biological engineering professor Pablo Debenedetti as vice dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the University announced Wednesday. She will assume the position on July 1, when Debenedetti succeeds A.J. Stewart Smith as the dean for research.

Gmachl is currently the director of the Mid-Infrared Technologies for Health and the Environment, or MIRTHE, Center and teaches a core electrical engineering class. She said that she will continue teaching next year alongside her new responsibilities.

Gmachl said that her first priority as vice dean will be to support Dean H. Vincent Poor GS ’77 in fulfilling his mission for the School. She will make decisions regarding the school’s budget, funding for faculty startups and space allocation for new faculty. She said she will also focus on facilitating relationships between corporations and faculty members as well as increasing international internship opportunities for undergraduates.

“For students, it’s important that everyone who wants to have an international experience can do so,” Gmachl noted.

In the coming years, the School of Engineering will face budgeting challenges due to the federal government’s sequester, which may affect research funding and the ability of the School to hire new faculty, according to Gmachl. Nonetheless, she said she is looking forward to joining the administrative staff in a time of transition and development for the University at large.

“I think it’s a very exciting time for the University; we have a new president starting July,” she said. “That’s usually a time where there’s a lot of new energy, new opportunities, new initiatives starting, so being a part of that is exciting.”

Gmachl served as acting vice dean in the 2012 spring semester when Debenedetti took a sabbatical leave.

“I think she is supremely qualified for the job. She has integrity, she has the vision, and she has proven administrative abilities,” Debenedetti said. “I’m just delighted. I think very high of Professor Gmachl, and she’s the ideal person for the job.”