Vanderbilt School of Engineering School Dean Kenneth F. Galloway was named Distinguished Professor of Engineering by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos at a dinner celebrating his 16-year tenure as dean.
The new title and an undergraduate engineering scholarship in his honor established by the Engineering Alumni Council and the school’s Committee of Visitors were announced at a dinner May 23 marking Galloway’s return to teaching and research.
“Ken Galloway is passionate, demanding, visionary and courageous. If the measure of his tenure is ‘did you leave the school better than you found it,’ Ken certainly exceeded it,” Zeppos said. Zeppos noted that Galloway came to Vanderbilt with a plan. “He said, ‘Here’s where we’re going to go,’ and he has a remarkable record of successes.”
In addition to Chancellor Zeppos, special speakers included engineering Professor Dan Fleetwood, Senior Associate Dean K. Arthur Overholser, Dick Warder, dean of engineering and professor of mechanical engineering, Herff College of Engineering, University of Memphis; Steve Hays, a Distinguished Alumnus, and Betsy Fleetwood, who spoke about Dot Galloway’s supportive role in the school and at the university.
On July 1, Galloway ends his term as dean. During that time, he built a reputation for faculty recruitment and increased research expenditures from external sources to $60 million annually, up from $10 million when he began. Featheringill Hall, the flagship building of the School of Engineering was constructed during his tenure. In the past 10 years 28 assistant professors have won prestigious, competitive CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation.
Just a few years ago, the school ranked below 50 in the U.S. News undergraduate rankings; now it ranks 34. “Those rankings are notoriously slow to move; to go from 50-something to 30-something in a few years is a remarkable feat,” said Art Overholser, senior associate dean in engineering.
Overholser said the dean’s oversight of recruitment and retention of outstanding young faculty members has led the school to a new level of accomplishment. “These faculty members will contribute to Vanderbilt’s success for decades to come. That will be a long-lasting heritage of Ken Galloway,” he added.
“Serving the School of Engineering has been both an honor and a pleasure,” Galloway said. “I am proud of the school’s progress and I appreciate the commitment of the alumni, the hard work of the faculty and staff, and the support of upper administration,” Galloway said.
Galloway will continue his role as a national leader in engineering education as the president-elect of the American Society for Engineering Education. He assumes the presidency in June 2013.
Galloway is an alumnus of Vanderbilt. He earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina and went on to hold professional appointments at Indiana University, NAVSEA-Crane, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Maryland, and the University of Arizona before returning to Vanderbilt as dean in 1996. He will return to research and teaching June 30, 2012.
Galloway’s research and teaching activities are in solid-state devices, semiconductor technology, and radiation effects in electronics. He has published numerous technical papers in these areas and has conducted research sponsored by several U.S. Department of Defense organizations. Galloway is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Physical Society (APS). In 2002, he received the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Radiation Effects Award, and in 2007, he received the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Richard F. Shea Distinguished Member Award.