Shih-Fu Chang Appointed Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I am delighted to announce that I have appointed Shih-Fu Chang as the next Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). I know all those familiar with Shih-Fu and the great care and commitment he brings to SEAS and to the University will celebrate this news.

Columbia Engineering is one of Columbia’s oldest schools, dedicated to attracting the brightest minds in engineering and applied science and to creating new knowledge in the service of social progress. Over the last 10 months, under Shih-Fu’s interim leadership, the School has continued its strategic efforts in developing new dual degree and joint degree MS programs with partner schools, co-led the creation of the Columbia Startup Fellows program, and expanded support for faculty to launch large cross-disciplinary research centers, including those devoted to Artificial Intelligence climate modeling, carbon technology, pandemic response innovation, women’s health, and Smart Cities. Diversity and inclusion efforts have focused on recruiting faculty from underrepresented backgrounds, creating new STEM pipeline programs, and establishing and hiring a SEAS Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. And, in support of students and faculty, Shih-Fu has helped the School continue its very successful fundraising efforts.

Shih-Fu has been an admired member of the Columbia community for nearly three decades, having arrived as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1993. He joined the Department of Computer Science with a joint appointment in 2011. As I shared in my announcement of his interim appointment, Shih-Fu is a gifted and deeply respected scientist whose research focuses on artificial intelligence, multimedia content analysis, and computer vision. As an administrator, he has spent many years working tirelessly to position SEAS among the top engineering schools in the world. He was closely involved in developing Columbia Engineering for Humanity, an articulation of the School’s commitment to serve the world through work across disciplines, departments, and schools. As Dean, Shih-Fu will promote University-wide efforts that grow our capacities for innovative research and continue ongoing work within the School to elevate the educational experience for Engineering students and to attract the most talented students and faculty.

I would like to express my gratitude to the search committee for their careful and thoughtful efforts, through a broad and deep search process. I could not be more pleased that we reached this outcome and that Shih-Fu has agreed to serve as Dean. From the search process and beyond, I know everyone will join me in congratulating Shih-Fu on this well-deserved appointment.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger