August 2018

SANTA CLARA, Calif., August 15, 2018 — Santa Clara University announced the appointment of  Jon C. Strauss as interim dean of the School of Engineering, effective Aug. 27, 2018.  The University will commence a national search this fall for the permanent dean of the School of Engineering.  

Strauss has held tenured faculty positions and administrative appointments at Carnegie Mellon University, Washington University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Southern California, after working at IBM and other major technology firms. From 1985-1994, he was president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and from 1997-2006, he served as president of Harvey Mudd College, a distinctive liberal arts college of engineering, science, and mathematics. Among his more recent administrative roles, he provided visionary leadership as interim dean of the Whitacre College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. From 2004-2010, Dr. Strauss served as a member of the National Science Board– the Board is responsible for setting policies for the National Science Foundation and also serves as an independent policy advisory body to the President and Congress on science and engineering research and education issues.

“Dr. Jon Strauss comes at a pivotal moment when Santa Clara’s School of Engineering is transitioning into a new set of facilities and designing integrative academic programs within the groundbreaking Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation,” said Dennis Jacobs, provost at Santa Clara University.  “Jon brings to Santa Clara a wealth of experience leading some of the nation’s top engineering programs within higher education.”

Dr. Strauss earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.

In July, Alfonso Ortega, the former dean of SCU’s  School of Engineering, stepped down and returned to his former position at Villanova University, where he was a professor of mechanical engineering.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering; master’s degrees in business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry, and theology; and law degrees and engineering doctoral degrees. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu