Wichita State University College of Engineering has appointed Ali P. Gordon, Ph.D., as its next dean, effective June 7.
He joins Wichita State from the University of Central Florida, where he served as professor and associate dean of graduate affairs in the College of Engineering & Computer Science.
Dr. Gordon’s research focuses on durability modeling of structural materials, and he has secured over $7 million in funding from organizations including the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and NASA. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a four-time United States Air Force Summer Faculty Fellow, and coauthor of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles.
Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling over 25,000 students across its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology.
The university attracts students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, and is recognized for its student-centered, innovation-driven approach.
The National Science Foundation ranks WSU first in the nation for aerospace engineering research and development, second for industry-funded engineering R&D, and eighth overall for engineering R&D.
Gordon holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Morehouse College.