Dean’s Advisory Council hears plans to boost College research activities

March 22, 2022

Group photo.

Members of the Dean’s Advisory Council, from left, Jim Fitterling, Kelly King, David Payne, Ron Wood, Michael Melton and Christine Pierson with Dean Noah Manring.

Mizzou Engineering will focus on increasing research activity over the coming decade, including recruiting 50 new faculty members as part of MizzouForward. Members of the Dean’s Advisory Council (DAC) heard details of the plan during a meeting at the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building on Friday, March 18.

MizzouForward is a transformative, $1.5 billion long-term investment strategy in the continued research excellence of the University of Missouri. Over 10 years, MizzouForward will use existing and new resources to recruit up to 150 new tenure and tenure-track faculty to MU to address some of society’s greatest challenges.

“We have a strong foundation of ground-breaking research at Mizzou Engineering,” said Noah Manring, the College’s Dean and Ketcham Professor. “We look forward to building on this success through MizzouForward.”

During Friday’s meeting, Manring discussed ongoing efforts to boost research expenditures, increase the College’s h-index and recognize faculty achievements through awards and accolades. Over the past few years, Mizzou Engineering faculty have been named Curator’s Distinguished Professors, Kemper Fellows for Excellence in Teaching and national fellows.

Those efforts ultimately support the College’s mission of educating engineers and engineering leaders, advancing technology and developing entrepreneurs in a research and interdisciplinary environment.

The DAC is comprised of some of the College’s most distinguished alumni. The group provides guidance, leadership and an industry perspective to ensure programs and curriculum remain relevant in an ever-changing world.

“Engineering leadership is a pipeline,” Manring said. “It’s about students learning from top-notch professors so they can excel in their areas then come back to the College as experts and advisors to help prepare the next generation.”

Co-chairs of the Dean’s Advisory Council are:

  • Jim Fitterling, BS ME ’83, Chairman & CEO of Dow Inc.
  • Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin, BS ME ’83; MS EE ’90; PhD EE ’93, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI)

Members of the Dean’s Advisory Council are:

  • Mike Brown, BS EE ’79 (MS from UMKC ’97), Chairman, President & CEO of Euronet Worldwide
  • Steve Edwards, BS EE ’78, CEO of Black & Veatch
  • Brian Howard, BA Bio Sci ’86 (MD from University of Rochester, MBA from Emory University), retired as President and Owner of North Fulton Plastic Surgery
  • Kelly King, BS ME ’90 (MBS from Saint Louis University), Executive Vice President of AT&T
  • Ray Kowalik, BS Civil ’85; MS Civil ’99, CEO of Burns & McDonnell
  • Sharon Langenbeck, BS ME ’74; MS ’76; PhD ’79, retired as NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Project Element Manager
  • Michael Melton, BS EE ’81; JD ’84, President & CEO of TME Enterprises; MEM Concessions, LLC
  • Jim O’Neill, BS Civil ’81; MS Civil ’82, retired as President, Boeing Defense Space and Security Development and St. Louis Senior Executive of Boeing
  • David Payne, BS EE ’83, CEO of PayneCrest Electric and Communications
  • Christine Pierson, BS IE ’85 (MBA from Rockhurst University), President & CEO of Tresl
  • Ron Wood, BS EE ’64, retired as President & CEO of Black & Veatch

Learn more about alumni involvement at Mizzou Engineering.