Djaferis named interim dean of College of Engineering

Theodore Djaferis, a longtime professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering. Djaferis, who has been associate dean of the college since 2003, will assume his new duties on Aug. 17, according to Provost James V. Staros.

“Professor Djaferis has an outstanding record of accomplishments and is well qualified to lead the College of Engineering,” said Staros.

“The college has undergone a fundamental transformation in the nearly 40 years I have been associated with it and is now poised to achieve even more going forward,” said Djaferis. “We have excellent faculty, dedicated staff and engaged students and alumni. I am honored to be leading the college at this time, mindful of the current challenging financial situation, but really excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

Djaferis is replacing Michael Malone, who earlier this month was named vice chancellor for Research and Engagement by Chancellor Robert C. Holub. Malone served as dean of the College of Engineering since 2004 and the Ronnie and Eugene M. Isenberg Distinguished Professor of Engineering since 2003.

Djaferis earned his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in 1974 from UMass Amherst, and his M.S. (1977), E.E. (1978), and Ph.D. (1979) in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He joined the Engineering faculty in 1979. He received the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Professor Award from the ECE department in 1982, 1988 and 1990, and the college’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2001.

Djaferis is the author or co-author of more than 100 technical publications in the area of systems and control, and the author of a research monograph, “Robust Control Design: A Polynomial Approach,” published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1995. He is co-editor of a research volume, “System Theory: Modeling Analysis and Control,” also published by Kluwer in 1999. He is also the author of a textbook for first-year engineering students entitled “Automatic Control: The Power of Feedback,” published by PWS in 1998 (revised printing by Brooks/Cole in 2000). In addition, he is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which recognized him “for contributions to robust control and algebraic system theory.”

For more than a quarter-century he has been heavily involved with the IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS), and his professional service contributions include serving as a member of the Linear Systems Committee for Reviewing Technical Notes/Correspondence Items for the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 1983-84; finance chairman American Control Conference 1985; program vice-chair IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) 1991; publications chairman IEEE CDC 1995; associate editor Conference Editorial Board IEEE CSS 1994-96; program chairman IEEE CDC 1997; member, board of governors IEEE CSS, 1996-99, 2001-08; chair of the conference publications committee IEEE CSS 1998 to 2001; General chairman IEEE CDC 2001; vice-president member activities, IEEE CSS, 2002-03; vice-president conference activities IEEE CSS, 2004-05; president-elect IEEE CSS, 2006; president IEEE CSS, 2007; past-President IEEE CSS, 2008; awards committee chair IEEE CSS, 2009.

August 5, 2009.

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