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VCU School of Engineering
The VCU School of Engineering, located on the Monroe Park Campus of Virginia Commonwealth
University in Richmond, Virginia, opened in 1996. The School initially had four departments:
Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical and Computer, and Chemical and Life Science Engineering.
Computer Science was transferred to the School of Engineering from the College of Humanities in
2001. The Mechanical Engineering Department became the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear
Engineering in 2010. Each of these departments offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees. The founding class
graduated in May of 2000.
The VCU School of Engineering, housed in three state-of-the-art engineering facilities, boasts more
than 300,000 square feet of the very highest quality classroom and laboratory space, including East
and West Hall, the C. Kenneth and Dianne Harris Wright Virginia Microelectronics Center, and the
Institute for Engineering and Medicine.
In 2007, the School of Engineering partnered with the Schools of Business and the Arts to create the
VCU da Vinci Center, a place where students learn to develop innovative products in an
interdisciplinary team environment. The School is currently working with the School of Medicine and
VCU Life Sciences to develop the VCU Institute for Engineering and Medicine. The School has also
successfully partnered with the College of Humanities and Sciences to establish a $3.5 million Center
for Nanomaterials and Characterization to serve faculty and students in engineering, chemistry,
physics, and medicine.
Since the founding class, enrollment has grown to over 1,300 total undergraduate students and
approximately 246 graduate students. There are 66 members of the teaching and research faculty.
Our goal is for VCU Engineering to be the national model for innovation in engineering and research.
VCU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING SENIOR ADMINISTRATION AND DEPARTMENT CHAIRS
Dr. J. Charles Jennett, Interim Dean, School of Engineering
Dr. Afroditi Filippas, Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Dr. Rosalyn Hobson-Hargraves, Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Dr. Gerald Miller, Chair, Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Frank Gupton, Chair, Chemical and Life Science Engineering
Dr. Krzysztof Cios, Chair, Computer Science
Dr. Ashok Iyer, Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dr. Gary Tepper, Chair, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
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