Dr. Amir Mirmiran, Professor and Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed to serve as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing effective October 22, 2007. Dr. Mirmiran was recommended by the Faculty Council of the College for this position, and he will serve in it through June 2009. Dr. Mirmiran takes this position armed with a well thought out plan for moving the College forward during his time of stewardship. His plan has definite goals, and his demonstrated leadership skills, research record, external funding, and graduate student mentoring will allow him to lead by example in the College.

While Dr. Mirmiran serves as the Interim Dean, at the recommendation of the CEE faculty, Dr. Fang Zhao, Professor and Director of Graduate Program, has been appointed to serve as CEE Acting Chair, effective October 29, 2007. Dr. Zhao received her MS and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and joined FIU in 1992. Since 1994, Dr. Zhao has served as Deputy Director of the Lehman Center for Transportation Research. She has been funded $2.3M as PI and another $4.6M as co-PI or Project Director by the U.S. and Florida Departments of Transportation, City of Miami, and the National Science Foundation. She has published over 100 journal and conference papers and technical reports. Dr. Zhao has served as Graduate Program Director of the department from 1995 to 2000, and since 2005. She has chaired the Graduate Program Advisory Committee to improve the quality of our graduate programs and the admission and advising processes. She has also served on the Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee, and as faculty advisor of Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering Honor Society.