Friday, July 25
Renowned aerospace engineer David Dolling will assume the deanship at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences on Sept. 1, University officials announced last week.
Dolling is currently an associate dean for academic affairs and professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin. He will replace former SEAS Dean Timothy Tong who departed the University this spring to become the president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
“I am very happy to take this post,” Dolling said. “SEAS is a great school with great faculty and great students.”
He told the Daily Texan newspaper at UT that he was interested in SEAS at GW because it was “a chance to get involved from the very beginning with something that’s going to grow in stature and size.”
After an eight month search and interview process, the SEAS Dean Search Committee selected Dolling following an interview at an undisclosed location, a two-day public interview with a visit to the University and talks with University President Steven Knapp and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman.
Murray Loew, an engineering professor and a member of the search committee, said Dolling’s experiences – particularly as chairman for ABET, which accredits university engineering programs – make him a unique candidate that has experience and management skills.
“The experience that (Dolling) has from the University of Texas as well as his experience as chairman from an ABET committee is really going to be very valuable to SEAS,” Loew said. “He has seen a number of other programs around the country and so he has that familiarity and so he knows what works and what doesn’t as far as undergraduate education goes.”
Dolling received his undergraduate and doctorate degree from the London University. He spent six years as a researcher and lecturer at Princeton University before joining the faculty of Cockrell, which is ranked 11th among university engineering schools by U.S. News & World Report.
More than 60 candidates applied for the position. The search committee used Academic Search Inc. to help them sort through applications – the same search firm that was used to find University President Steven Knapp.
“Dr. Dolling was selected after an extensive national search,” Lehman said in a news release. “His expertise in high-level research in aerodynamics, as well as in faculty recruitment and mentoring, will greatly help GW advance its science and engineering programs.”
Student Association President Vishal Aswani, who is a student at SEAS, said he is excited about the new dean.
“Dr. Dolling is an impressive candidate who brings a lot to the table,” said Aswani, a senior. “He is somebody who can defiantly help the School of Engineering from both an academic and a student life perspective.”
