Officials on Thursday tapped Jason Zara to lead the School of Engineering and Applied Science on an interim basis, just days before the current dean is set to assume the role of interim provost.
Zara, who presently serves as SEAS’ associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of biomedical engineering, will assume the role on July 1. The announcement comes days before current Dean John Lach will start as the University’s interim provost, following Provost Chris Bracey’s resignation on June 30.
“GW Engineering is a vibrant community of talented faculty, staff and students, and I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to shepherd the school as we continue along our current path in achieving its research and educational missions,” Zara said in the release.
Zara joined the University as an assistant professor in 2002 and contributed to school-wide projects, like revising the biomedical engineering program, developing a new undergraduate and master’s program in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and creating a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering program, according to the release.
“In over two decades at GW Engineering, Dr. Zara has become a seasoned administrative leader and scholar who has established valuable relationships with colleagues across the school,” outgoing Provost Chris Bracey said in the release. “He is a natural choice to lead the school’s faculty, students and staff during this transition.”
Zara also represented SEAS in the Faculty Senate from 2017 to 2021, where he served as chair and later co-chair of the Faculty Senate Educational Policy and Technology Committee, according to the release.
During his time in the Senate, he passed an amendment to a 2020 resolution ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion would be a “central plank” of the University’s next strategic plan. He also voted to expand the school’s freshman forgiveness program, which allows students to retake courses they’ve scored a D+ or lower in, to all undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University awarded Zara the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prize for Teaching Excellence in 2020 to recognize his “outstanding” teaching.
“As associate dean for academic affairs, he takes personal responsibility for ensuring that all of our students have a world-class experience in our school—from cutting-edge curricula and effective pedagogies to formative research opportunities and extracurricular experiences. GW Engineering will be in very good hands,” Lach said in the release.
Zara’s research includes optical and acoustic radiation imaging and optical coherence tomography, a procedure that uses light to create 3D images of the eye. Zara has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator in over 20 externally funded research projects and has acquired funding from organizations, like the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health, according to the release.
Zara’s research also includes developing software to detect epithelial cancers, epilepsy and other diseases. Zara earned the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Translational Research Award in 2006 for his work on microfabricated OCT scanners. He holds seven patents and founded two start-up companies, according to the release.
Zara started his career as a post-doctoral research associate at Duke University from 2001 to 2002 prior to joining the University, according to his LinkedIn profile.
