Pérez earns AAAS honor for contributions to engineering

University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineering Dean Lance C. Pérez has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society. Fellows are selected by their peers for scientifically or socially distinguished achievements that advance science or its application. 

Pérez, Fred Hunzeker Dean of Engineering and Omar H. Heins Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was selected for distinguished contributions to the field of engineering, particularly wireless communication research, administrative leadership and engineering education.

“The AAAS fellows I know are pillars in their fields, both in engineering and the other sciences,” said Pérez, who has been at the university since 1996. “It’s humbling and gratifying to be part of that group.”

Across his career, Pérez has secured more than $19.6 million in funding to pursue research focused on wireless communications and information processing. Early in his career, he was part of a community of researchers from around the world who discovered a practical solution to the single user additive white Gaussian noise communication problem, which scientists had been working toward since 1948. Pérez said helping to solve that longstanding problem — which unlocked the ability of digital communications systems to achieve their full potential — is the research contribution he is most proud of.  

More recently, Pérez pursued National Science Foundation-funded work focused on the physiological links between engineering problem-solving and spatial visualization skills to aid in designing better curricula for STEM students. He was also part of a Husker team developing AI-powered computer vision systems to help producers monitor animals for early signs of health problems, a project that is ongoing.

Pérez has been a transformative administrator at Nebraska. He has served in multiple leadership positions, including as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs from 2010 to 2016 and dean of graduate studies from 2012 to 2016. He led key initiatives during that time, including developing programs on academic leadership and making significant investments in academic infrastructure. 

During Pérez’s deanship, which began in 2018 after two years as interim dean, the College of Engineering has flourished, setting records in enrollment and research, and launching the largest academic facilities project in the university’s 154-year history. Currently, undergraduate enrollment is at an all-time high: Roughly 3,700 students were enrolled in fall 2024, and the aim is to increase that number to 5,000 students by 2030.

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Research activity has also expanded as sponsored research awards have grown from nearly $24 million in 2018 to $48 million in 2024.

Driving this growth has been Pérez’s vision and leadership in upgrading Nebraska’s engineering facilities. He has played a pivotal role in the historic $190 million facilities investment project that launched in 2019, the centerpiece of which is Kiewit Hall, the privately funded $115 million hub for engineering education. The project also includes the new Engineering Research Center and the renovated Scott Engineering Center.

A cornerstone of his success, Pérez said, is the development of strategic partnerships. He was part of the team that led Nebraska’s 2011 entry into the Big Ten Academic Alliance, which is home to many of the nation’s foremost engineering colleges. Gaining a seat at this prestigious table has helped enhance Nebraska Engineering’s stature and motivates him to continue the college’s momentum. 

“That’s what I wake up thinking about every day: How do we solidify our college’s place in the Big Ten and beyond?” he said. “Attracting more students, staff and faculty to our college is good for the economic development of the entire state.”  

Pérez is also nationally recognized for his expertise in engineering education. Between 2008 and 2010, he was program manager in NSF’s Division of Undergraduate Education, where he played a key role in shifting the paradigm of engineering education research toward evidence-based teaching and learning. In that role, he helped reshape the agency’s STEM education funding policies to focus on discipline-based educational research.

He brought that expertise back to Nebraska, helping the university secure a $1.9 million NSF grant aimed at bridging the gap between research and practice in STEM education. The project enabled nearly 200 Husker faculty across 14 STEM departments to participate in professional development on research-based teaching, ultimately benefiting 5,000 students. 

A hallmark of Pérez’s career has been broadening participation in engineering. As dean, he appointed the first three women unit heads in the college’s history and has increased representation of women and other underrepresented populations throughout the faculty, leadership and student ranks. Pérez’s efforts have led to national recognition and are helping the college meet Nebraska’s need for more engineers.

“As a first-generation college student, an engineering education changed my life,” he said. “I’ve seen the transformative power of the degree. Data show that many Nebraska high school graduates are prepared for a degree in engineering, computing and construction, and we are working hard to get more of these students to choose these paths.”

The 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow cohort has 471 members, who will be featured in the March edition of the journal Science and honored in Washington, D.C., in June. The association has been electing fellows since 1874.