Jelena Kovačević, the dean of the Tandon Faculty of Engineering, introduced on Tuesday that she’s going to step down from her position within the 2024 educational yr.
Andy Lin
File photograph: Jelena Kovačević (middle) talking throughout a Tandon city corridor occasion held on April 5. (Andy Lin for WSN)
The dean of NYU’s Tandon Faculty of Engineering, Jelena Kovačević, will step down from her position in August of subsequent yr. After taking a sabbatical, she’s going to return to the varsity as a college member.
“I can confidently say that due to all of our collective efforts and the tireless dedication, engineering has now been added firmly to the disciplines for which NYU is thought, which is what I got down to do,” Kovačević wrote to WSN.
Kovačević, the varsity’s first feminine dean since its founding in 1854, introduced her plan to step down in an electronic mail despatched to Tandon college students on Tuesday. Within the electronic mail, she counseled Tandon college students for the varsity’s enhance in status and worldwide standing.
Analysis funding at Tandon has elevated by 441% during the last 10 years, and the variety of purposes rose from 17,000 to 29,000 between the autumn 2018 and fall 2022 semesters. In keeping with Kovačević, Tandon has additionally seen a rise within the variety of first-year ladies candidates, who presently make up 46% of incoming courses. Moreover, throughout Kovačević’s five-year tenure, Tandon launched the International Leaders and Students in STEM honors program, the Experiential Studying Heart and a profession hub.
Tandon has additionally skilled elevated philanthropic help lately. In December 2022, college president Andrew Hamilton introduced a long-term $1 billion funding within the faculty that will make use of 40 new full-time, tenure-track college members and develop analysis amenities. Most lately, the varsity obtained a $15 million grant to fund transportation analysis initiatives for the following 5 years.
In March, Kovačević confronted pushback from college students after it was introduced that the varsity’s graduates wouldn’t be allowed to stroll at commencement as a consequence of time constraints. The varsity introduced it could reverse the choice and begin the ceremony half-hour sooner than initially deliberate after a petition with over 1,800 signatures, quite a few emails from college students and a city corridor.
Earlier than becoming a member of NYU in 2018, Kovačević was the pinnacle of Carnegie Mellon College’s electrical and pc engineering division, the place she taught for 15 years. Kovačević stated that she has missed instructing throughout her time as an administrator.
“With the vitality I’ve dedicated to administrative management of the varsity, significantly throughout uniquely difficult occasions, I’ve not had time to dedicate to analysis and significantly instructing, which I miss very a lot,” Kovačević stated.
Kovačević stated that Hamilton and Interim Provost Georgina Dopico will quickly supply details about the search course of for her successor.
“Particulars on the seek for the following dean shall be forthcoming from the college, however within the meantime, I’m trying ahead to seeing what else we will accomplish over the following educational yr,” Kovačević stated. “Serving you as your dean has been the consideration of my life, and I can’t anticipate the following stage of my time at Tandon.”
Contact Bruna Horvath at [email protected].