Tsu-Jae King Liu, vice provost for academic and space planning, professor and former chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), has been named the next dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering.
Chancellor Carol Christ and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Paul Alivisatos announced the appointment today, citing Liu’s extensive experience in academia — as an instructor, researcher and administrator — as well as in industry.
“In the leadership roles she has held, Tsu-Jae has demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence in teaching, to discovery and innovation, and to developing technologies that make our world a better place,” said Christ. “She does this while broadening access to the engineering disciplines for women and underrepresented minorities.”
Liu will be stepping down from her current vice provost position on June 30 to begin her position as dean of engineering the next day, July 1. The appointment makes Liu the 13th dean of the College of Engineering, as well as the first woman to hold that position at UC Berkeley. Notably, only 60 of the 368 engineering colleges and schools in the United States have female deans, according to the American Society for Engineering Education.
Liu, who holds the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Distinguished Professorship in Microelectronics, is succeeding S. Shankar Sastry as engineering dean. Sastry, the Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering and director of the Blum Center for Developing Economies, announced last October that he would be stepping down as dean after 11 years to return full time to teaching and research.