School of Engineering and Computing appoints new dean
April 4, 2022
In an email sent out to students on April 4, Provost Debra Liebowitz announced that Taskin Kocak was appointed as the new dean for the School of Engineering and Computing.
Kocak joins Quinnipiac University from the University of New Orleans where he is currently the Dean of the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering and a professor in computer and electrical engineering.
Describing Kocak’s time at the University of New Orleans, Provost Liebowitz said, “Under his leadership over the last three years, the College of Engineering raised the two largest gifts in its history, leading to the naming of the College of Engineering and its School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, respectively.”
Among other achievements, the Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering received university and state approval in 2020 for an undergraduate construction management degree program under the guidance of Kocak.
Prior to working in New Orleans, Kocak was at the Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey as a professor, department chair and dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences for eight years. Before receiving his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Duke University, Kocak worked at Mitsubishi Electronic America’s Semiconductor Division as a design engineer in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
“He has supported and developed student success efforts that increased retention and enrollment of domestic and international students while expanding available student scholarships, diversity of the student population, and experiential education opportunities for students,” Provost Liebowitz said.
With over 130 peer-reviewed publications, including 46 journal papers, his research interests and expertise are broad and range from machine learning to high-performance computing.
Provost Liebowitz expressed her gratitude to the search committee in her email.
“I would like to thank the search committee for its extensive and successful search efforts, led by Matt O’Connor, professor of finance, with membership of Stefan Christov, associate professor of software engineering; Ruby ElKharboutly, associate professor of software engineering; Priscilla Fonseca, associate professor of civil engineering; John Greenleaf, associate professor of civil engineering and civil engineering program director; Robert Jasek, chief information security officer; Jesse Kalinowski, assistant professor of economics and data science; Rachida Parks, associate professor of computer information systems; and Mary Phillips Ho, associate professor of mechanical engineering and interim mechanical engineering program director.”
The interim dean, Lynn Byers who was appointed in 2021, will return to the mechanical engineering department. Kocak is set to join the university on June 30.
