Leadership

Serving our community

The best mix of talent achieves the greatest outcomes.

People with different skills, backgrounds, identities and perspectives are necessary for us to realize our vision. We’re proud of the fact that women now hold approximately half of our academic leadership positions — progress we know will have positive ripple effects.

We work to create opportunities for all, and where barriers exist we close the gaps. Every member of our community gets to be heard, should be involved and must be empowered to achieve to their full potential. 

lurie engineering center front entrance view

Office of the Dean

Steven Ceccio stands in a grey suit. He rests his hand on a handrail on the second floor of the Ford Robotics Building. Below him, you can see the building atrium and the yellow stairs.

The Office of the Dean is responsible for the leadership and administration of the Michigan Engineering community, supporting faculty, students and staff as they pursue their programs in education, research and service.

Interim Dean Steven L. Ceccio

Dean’s Leadership Advisory Board (LAB)

Department chairs & program directors






Dean’s cabinet


deborah mero
Debbie Mero

Sr Executive Director of Administration and Chief Financial Officer, Resource Planning and Management

[email protected]

Jennifer Judge Hensel
Jennifer Judge Hensel

Executive Director, Communications and Marketing

[email protected]


Rebecca Flintoff
Rebecca Flintoft

Executive Director, Student Affairs

[email protected]

dan maletta
Dan Maletta

Executive Director, Information Technology

[email protected]

Portrait of Chris Labelle
Chris LaBelle

Executive Director, Online & Professional Education (Nexus)

[email protected]


Mike Drake
Mike Drake

Chief of Staff and Sr Executive Director, Advancement

[email protected]

Lyonel Milton
Lyonel J. Milton

Interim Executive Director, Culture, Community and Equity

[email protected]


Stefanie Horvath
Stefanie Horvath

Senior Manager, Dean’s Office Communications

[email protected]


Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering Position

The University of Michigan is currently undergoing a search for the new Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering. A search advisory committee has been assembled.

Learn more about the position and the application process.

College of Engineering Dean Search Committee

  • Elizabeth A. Holm, Chair, Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor of Engineering, Professor and Chair of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Matt Blank, Student Administration Manager, Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Eunshin Byon, Associate Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, Associate Professor and Richard Wilson Faculty Scholar
  • Cindy Chestek, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and Medical School, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Associate Professor of Robotics, College of Engineering
  • Anne Curzan, Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics and Education, Arthur F Thurnau Professor, Professor of English Language and Literature, Professor of Linguistics, Dean, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and Professor of Education, Marsal Family School of Education
  • Natasha Dacic, Graduate Student, Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering
  • Reetuparna Das, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering
  • Carol Flannagan, Research Professor, Director of the Center for the Management of Information for Safe and Sustainable Transportation (CMISST), U of M Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI)
  • Kelly Hanson, Academic Program Director of Technical Communication and Lecturer III in Technical Communication, College of Engineering
  • Carolyn Kuranz, Director, Center for Laboratory Astrophysics, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, College of Engineering
  • Stephane Lafortune, N Harris McClamroch Collegiate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • Sophia Lee, Undergraduate Student, Chemical Engineering
  • Joaquim R. R. A. Martins, Pauline M Sherman Collegiate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Lyonel Milton, Interim Executive Director for Culture, Community and Equity, College of Engineering
  • Chinedum Okwudire, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Professor of Integrative Systems and Design, Miller Faculty Scholar, and Special Assistant to the Dean for Manufacturing, College of Engineering
  • Jing Sun, Michael G Parsons Collegiate Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Tia Sutton Sysounthorn, Alumna, Aerospace Engineering
  • Alan Taub, Robert H Lurie Professor of Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering and Director of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Center, College of Engineering
robert j vlasic

About this gift

Robert Vlasic was a distinguished civic leader who earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial and mechanical engineering from U-M in 1949, where he was a member of Tau Beta Pi. After college, he worked in the Detroit food distribution business founded by his father. He assumed leadership of Vlasic Foods Co. in 1963 when it was still a small, local Michigan pickle producer. By 1978, the business had grown to $100 million and ranked number one in the nation, when it was sold to Campbell Soup Co. Bob served as a director of Campbell Soup Co. and retired as chair in 1996. He founded O/E Automation, Inc., based in Troy, Mich. His 1996 gift to U-M established the endowed position known as the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering. It was the first endowed deanship in any U-M school or college.