Pérez named interim dean of engineering

Lance C. Pérez has been appointed to the position of interim dean in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Chancellor Ronnie Green made the announcement June 16.

Pérez will formally begin the three-year appointment, which is pending Board of Regents approval, on July 1.

An experienced academic and campus leader, Pérez is associate vice chancellor for academic affairs as well as dean of graduate studies. He has been a faculty member in the College of Engineering at Nebraska since 1996 and is a tenured full professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Pérez succeeds Tim Wei, who will join the college faculty full-time beginning in July. Wei is a tenured full professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering.

Green thanked Wei for his five years of service as dean of the college and said the university would work to ensure a smooth transition.

“As dean, Tim has moved the College of Engineering forward and has established a strong strategic vision. I am certain his positive impact in the college will continue,” Green said. “I am confident that Lance Pérez will build upon this work and take the college to the next level.”

In his current administrative positions at Nebraska, Pérez has been responsible for faculty and leadership development, promotion and tenure, instructional technology and classroom facilities improvements, and graduate education. He has led the implementation of $30 million of improvements to the academic facilities at Nebraska and has played a pivotal role in the university’s entry into the Big Ten’s Committee on Institutional Cooperation. As a faculty member, he has won several teaching awards and has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $15 million of federally funded research. His research interests include signal and information processing, engineering education and faculty leadership development. From 2008 to 2010, Pérez was a program director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation.

“The College of Engineering plays a critical role in the advancement of the state of Nebraska, and it is a priority at the university to continue to enhance and expand engineering education and research,” Pérez said. “I am eager to help the college achieve its teaching, research and engagement goals as it continues to establish itself as a Big Ten college of engineering.”

As the only engineering college in Nebraska, the College of Engineering provides students with national and international expertise in their fields, the latest technology and quality facilities across three campuses in Lincoln and Omaha. Its enrollment in fall 2015 was 3,487.