February 26, 2013
Michael B. Bragg selected as dean of UW College of Engineering
Michael B. Bragg, professor and interim dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as dean of the University of Washington College of Engineering, effective July 15, 2013, UW President Michael Young and Provost Ana Mari Cauce announced today. The appointment is subject to approval of the UW Board of Regents.
“We are very excited that Mike Bragg will be joining us as our next dean of engineering,” said Young. “He is a renowned expert in aerospace engineering and a proven leader who gets results. Educating engineers is crucial to our economic future in the state, and Mike is a visionary educator who understands this issue. He is coming from one great engineering program to another, and we are certain he will build on the excellent work being done in the College.”
An aeronautical engineer by training, Bragg has held numerous leadership positions at the University of Illinois, including head of the aerospace engineering department, associate dean for research and administrative affairs, executive associate dean for academic affairs, and interim dean in the College of Engineering.
Bragg taught aerodynamics and flight mechanics at the undergraduate and graduate level and received department, college and university-level recognition for his teaching and advising. More than 50 graduate students and five post- doctoral researchers received their advanced degrees under Bragg’s guidance.
Bragg’s primary area of research is aircraft icing where he is an international expert on the effect of ice accretion on aircraft aerodynamics and flight safety. He directed over $15 million in externally funded research and published more than 200 research papers. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and has received several national awards for his work.
As associate dean for research and administration, Bragg oversaw the administration of all personnel and financial matters in the college, all physical facilities, and administration of the research program and the graduate programs. As executive associate dean for academic affairs he was responsible for all faculty and academic personnel and the strategic management of the over $300 million budget of the college.
He has been instrumental in curriculum innovation in the college, including supervision of the Technology Entrepreneurial Center and is a co-founder of two faculty startup companies at Illinois.
Bragg has grown education programs and championed diversity. As a department head, he increased the department’s graduate program by 30 percent and more than doubled the percentage of women in graduate school and on the department’s faculty. At the college level he has been instrumental in developing innovative programs to recruit a more diverse engineering faculty.
Bragg received a bachelor’s degree in 1976, a master’s degree in 1977 (both in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and a doctorate from The Ohio State University in 1981. He was a faculty member at Ohio State from 1981 to 1989.
His annual salary will be $340,000.
The College of Engineering is developing a new generation of innovators. A national leader in educating engineers, the college has ten academic departments, 5800 students and 40,000 plus engineering alumni. A leader in research and commercialization, each year the College turns out new products, companies and top-flight graduates, all contributing to the strength of our economy and the health and vitality of our community.
