Elnashai to serve as engineering dean at Penn State

Amr S. Elnashai, head of the Department Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), has been selected to be dean of the Penn State College of Engineering. Elnashai will step down as head of CEE at Illinois in mid-January 2014.

“Penn State is very lucky to have Amr assume the helm of their college of engineering,” wrote Andreas C. Cangellaris, dean of the College of Engineering at Illinois, in an announcement made October 22. “An exceptional scholar, an inspirational and visionary leader, Amr’s tenure at Illinois marked an impressive period for the CEE department.

“In his role as department head since 2009, Amr has led significant growth to the department’s research expenditures, the diversity of its faculty and to the breadth of interdisciplinary research. During his tenure, the department launched its online program, which quickly became very successful and profitable, expanded its global outreach and vastly increased the number of graduate students.

Prior to becoming department head, Elnashai was director of the National Science Foundation’s multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary Mid-America Earthquake Center, as well as Illinois’ NSF Network for Earthquake Engineering and Simulation facility.

“All of us who had the opportunity to work closely with Amr over the years have come to admire and appreciate his drive, his commitment to excellence, his strategic thinking, his collegiality," Cangellaris added. "His talents will be missed at Illinois, and I am confident that they will serve him well in his new leadership role at Penn State.”

Penn State President Rodney Erickson echoed the sentiment.

“The breadth of his expertise and international reputation will further Penn State’s position at the forefront of engineering education,” Erickson said.

Elnashai joined CEE at Illinois in 2001, having most recently held a position as professor of earthquake engineering and head of section at Imperial College, University of London.

“These years have been the most fulfilling of my life, both professionally and personally,” Elnashai said. “We have a great department that is setting the pace on all fronts and I am sure that it will continue its path of excellence under new leadership.”

An interim head for the department will be named in the coming weeks.