College of Engineering dean and Southern Company chair Gary S. May has announced leadership changes in several units of the college.
As previously announced, Ravi Bellamkonda, Wallace H. Coulter Professor and department chair for the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory (BME), will leave on July 31 to become Vinik Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University.
Ross Ethier Stephen DeWeerth Robert Butera
Professor Ross Ethier, Georgia Research Alliance Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. Eminent Scholar in Bioengineering, will become interim chair of BME on Aug. 1, and a national search will be conducted for a permanent chair. Ethier joined the BME department in 2012. He came to Georgia Tech from Imperial College London, where he was professor and head of the Department of Bioengineering.
In addition, Stephen DeWeerth, associate dean for research and innovation, has been named dean of engineering at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. DeWeerth will assume his new duties on Sept. 1. From 2010 to 2013, DeWeerth served as the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi. He was also the director of Graduate Studies for the joint GT/Emory Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program.
Professor Robert Butera, of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as the interim associate dean for research and innovation in the Dean’s Office. Butera, who also holds a joint appointment in BME, previously served as director of the Interdisciplinary Bioengineering Graduate Program (2005-2008) and faculty director of Graduate Studies at Georgia Tech (2009-2011).
“Because of Georgia Tech’s national reputation in engineering, it is rewarding to know that other institutions across the U.S. look to Georgia Tech for outstanding individuals to help lead their engineering schools,” said May. “I wish both Steve and Ravi continued success and our thanks for their contributions to the College during their tenure.”
