Provost Donald Foss appointed Joseph Tedesco as the next dean of the Cullen College of Engineering to start in January 2008.
Tedesco will be the college’s sixth dean and will replace Raymond Flumerfelt, who retired in July after a nine-year term.
"I am delighted the Cullen College will benefit from the leadership skills of Joe Tedesco," Foss said in a statement Monday. "He has a wealth of positive experience in both the teaching and research domains."
Tedesco is professor and chairman of the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Florida.
"He has been a highly effective leader of his department at the University of Florida," Foss said. "Consistent with our emphasis on multidisciplinary work, he has been a leader and participant in numerous multi-million dollar consortia."
A specialist in industrial engineering, Tedesco’s research has been based on finite modeling of structures. He has more than 30 years of involvement with structural design.
Tedesco has worked in the civil engineering department at Auburn University, Oregon State University and Lehigh University. He has also served as top investigator in more than 25 federally funded research projects.
During the fall semester, Fritz Claydon will oversee the college as interim dean.
"I appreciate his (Claydon’s) willingness to serve his colleagues and the University in this way," Foss said.
