CEE Chair Samer Madanat was recently named Dean of Engineering at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Madanat, the Xenel Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Chair of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering from 2012-present, and Institute of Transportation Studies Director from 2005-2014 will be moving to Abu Dhabi in July. He assumes the Dean position on Aug. 1.
Madanat steered the CEE department through the 2012 ABET undergraduate program accreditation process and the 2014 Academic Program Review of the department. (Only really lucky chairs get to lead their departments through both the once-every-6-years ABET review and the-once-every-9-years academic program review.)
Madanat oversaw the implementation of the first of the 3 CEE strategic directions, i.e., the broad interdisciplinary area of "Smart Cities." He created the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, shepherded several ideas for departmental revenue generation, and oversaw the transition of CEE administrative services to Campus Shared Services.
He also revived the department's tradition of a semiannual lecture on research with the CEE Distinguished Lecture Series and instituted monthly community-building lunches for faculty and staff.
Madanat received a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Jordan in 1986, and a MS and PhD in Transportation Systems from MIT in 1988 and 1991 respectively. Several of his former students are faculty members at universities in the US and abroad.
See Former ITS Director Madanat Becomes Dean of Engineering at NYUAD (ITS Berkeley)