Mark Matsumoto has been named dean of the School of Engineering at the University of California, Merced, the university announced today. His appointment is effective Sept. 1, 2015.
Matsumoto is currently associate dean for research and graduate education in the Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside, where he also serves as a professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. During his 21-year tenure at UC Riverside, Matsumoto has also held the positions of interim dean in the Bourns College of Engineering, associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs, chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and chair of the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering.
In his new position, Matsumoto will replace Erik Rolland, UC Merced professor of management, who has served as interim dean of the School of Engineering since the departure last summer of Dan Hirleman, the school’s dean from 2010 to 2014.
Matsumoto has strong ties to UC Merced and the School of Engineering. He served as a member of the Campus Planning Committee during UC Merced’s formative years, from 2000 to 2003, assisting in the selection of academic majors, the creation of an academic administrative structure and the hiring of senior administrative leadership. In 2010, he served for six months as interim dean of the School of Engineering after the departure of the founding dean.
“Dr. Matsumoto’s extensive involvement in the development of UC Merced and his brief role as head of the School of Engineering, along with his 15 years of leadership experience at the UC Riverside Bourns College of Engineering, will serve as excellent preparation for the duties he assumes at UC Merced,” said Thomas Peterson, UC Merced executive vice chancellor and provost. “We are delighted to secure a candidate of his experience and past engagement with UC Merced to lead our School of Engineering into its second decade.”
Matsumoto is a widely published author or co-author of technical articles, research reports, textbooks and review articles in his fields of interest, and he has made scholarly contributions at more than three dozen symposia and conferences. His research work, often conducted with colleagues, has attracted more than $10 million in sponsored support.
He is a member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Engineering Education, and he is the recipient of several honors and awards for teaching excellence.
“I am excited to be joining the School of Engineering and the UC Merced community,” Matsumoto said. “With a small but growing number of outstanding faculty members, UC Merced and the School of Engineering are enhancing the tradition of research excellence for which the University of California is well known. It will be a privilege to work with the energetic, resourceful and innovative School of Engineering team.”
Matsumoto holds both Ph. D. and master’s degrees in Civil (Environmental) Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. Before joining the faculty at UC Riverside in 1994, he taught for 11 years at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he established and directed the university’s Environmental Science Program.
