Associate Engineering Dean is Named Vice Provost

Dr. Andrew Blanchard, professor of electrical engineering and for the last four years senior associate dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, has been named vice provost of The University of Texas at Dallas. 

In his new position, Dr. Blanchard will work with Provost Hobson Wildenthal and other members of the senior administration in Academic Affairs, taking over many of the responsibilities relinquished by former Vice Provost Dr. Robert Nelsen, who has moved to take a new position at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

“UT Dallas is fortunate to have faculty members with Dr. Blanchard’s breadth and depth of experience in teaching, research and administration,” Dr. Wildenthal said.  “His service as senior associate dean in the Jonsson School has provided him with a comprehensive insight into University operations and priorities. 

“His many and varied interactions with faculty and administrators across the university, and with industry and governmental representatives in the larger circle of UT Dallas contacts, have earned for him widespread respect.  In discussing his prospective appointment with UT Dallas colleagues outside the Jonsson School, his spirit of affirmative cooperation was always noted.  The positive recommendations of Jonsson School colleagues, based on years of close association with Andy, were equally strong, even though many were concerned about losing him from the school to the central administration.”

Dr. Blanchard held positions of major responsibility at the Houston Advanced Research Center and in the University of Missouri’s School of Engineering prior to joining UT Dallas in 2001.  In 2003-04, while on leave from UT Dallas, he served in the private sector as vice president of Technology for Clean Earth Technologies.  In addition to his functional responsibilities as senior associate dean, he has recently played a key role in creating the research and development consortium Texas FUSION (Future Semiconductor Commercialization), in which UT Dallas, the State of Texas and the government of Korea are major contributors to the $14 million project budget.

Having received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, Dr. Blanchard’s research has dealt with mathematical modeling of electromagnetic phenomena and analysis of radar and Radio Frequency (RF) systems, tomographic imaging and electro-optical design.  He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), from which organization he holds a Third Millennium Medal, and an elected member of the Electromagnetics Academy.  He is a member of the President’s Council of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, from which he received in 1996 its Outstanding Service Award.

---