Dean's Advisory Council

Photo of DAC members in May 2024

The Dean's Advisory Council is comprised of accomplished alumni and friends from industry, government, and academia who are dedicated to excellence in engineering education, research and innovation and share a commitment to building strategic academic-industry partnerships. Its members serve as ambassadors for UMass Engineering and provide invaluable insight, contacts, and support to help the Dean set priorities and garner the necessary resources to move the College forward. The council meets biannually, in the spring and fall.

Current Members

Kokui Adesokan ’09 ChE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Technical Project Manager, Bridgewater Associates
Years of service: 2020–

Kokui Adesokan

Rena Bizios ’68 ChE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Lutcher Brown Endowed Distinguished University Chair Professor; Dept of Biomedical Engineering; University of Texas at San Antonio. Years of service: 2020–

Rena Bizios

Stephen Gordon ’89MS ECE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Founder and CTO of Walnut Home. Advisor at Metalenz
Years of service: 2018–

Stephen Gordon

Divi Gupta ’00, ’06MS ECE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Principal Entrepreneur in Residence Special Projects, Amazon
Years of service: 2020–

Divi Gupta

Kenneth Lloyd ’73 MIE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Vice President of Manufacturing (retired), Electro Switch Business Trust
Years of service: 2018–

Kenneth Lloyd

Adam Miller ’93 CEE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Owner, Summit Design + Build, LLC
Years of service: 2020–

Adam Miller

Ivette Perez-Franco ’91 IEOR

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

VP, Human Resources — Finance, Global Services & EMEA Enterprise Functions, Johnson & Johnson
Years of service: 2022–

Ivette Perez-Franco

Edward Price ’90 ChE

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Principal, Life Science API Manufacturing Consulting
Years of service: 2020–

Edward Price

Dan Riccio '86

Member of Dean's Advisory Council

Vice President, Engineering — Apple, Inc.
Years of service: 2023–

Dan Riccio

Emeritus Members

John Armstrong ’03 Hon
Vice President for Science and Technology (retired), IBM
Year of Service: 2018–2023

Julie DelVecchio Savage ’79, ’85MS, ’90PhD IE/OR
Director, National Security Engineering Center, The MITRE Corporation
Year of Service: 2018–2022

Robert Gorman ’63 ME
Co-founder & CEO (retired), Applied Physical Sciences, Inc.
Years of service: 2018–2021

Marshall Jones ’72MS, ’74PhD ME
Principal Engineer (retired)
GE Global Research 
Years of service: 2018– 2024

Barun Kar ’95PhD ECE
Senior Vice President of Engineering, Palo Alto Networks
Years of service: 2018–2022

Kelly Kennedy ’15 ECE
Specialist, Aftermarket Strategy and Analytics, Collins Aerospace
Years of service: 2018–2021

Raymond Laplante ’87 ChE
Dir. of Polyolefin Technology, Westlake Chemical Corp.
Years of service: 2018–2024

Renee Harbers Liddell ’85 IE
Founder and CEO, Harbers Family Foundation 
Years of service: 2018– 2024

Edwin (Ned) Thomas ’69 ME
Erle Nye ’59 Chair II & Hagler Institute Fellow,
College of Engineering, Texas A&M University 
Years of service: 2018– 2024