Troy, N.Y. — Joseph E. Flaherty, Amos Eaton Professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named dean of the School of Science following an international search.

The appointment, announced today by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson, is effective immediately.

“Dr. Flaherty has served Rensselaer for 28 years as a distinguished scholar and administrator,” Jackson said. “He brings the intellectual leadership, the vision, and the commitment that will move the School of Science forward to even higher levels of excellence. In addition, his research is at the intersection of biotechnology and information technology, the two research areas given priority in the Rensselaer Plan,” Jackson said.

As Amos Eaton Professor, Flaherty holds one of the most honored academic appointments at Rensselaer, where his research includes the simulation and modeling of biological materials.

Flaherty has been co-author of 13 books and 139 articles in refereed journals. He is a Fellow and Secretary of the U.S. Association for Computational Mechanics, and the recipient of an IBM Director’s Award and an Army Service Recognition Award. He is an editor of SIAM Review, SIAM Monographs in Modeling and Simulation, and Applied Numerical Mathematics, and member of the editorial boards of International Journal of Computational Engineering Science, SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, and IACM Journal Computational Mechanics.

Flaherty graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and a master’s degree and doctorate in applied mechanics. He joined the Rensselaer faculty in 1973 and became the founding chair of the Department of Computer Science in 1984.

Flaherty has served on the Institute’s internal strategic planning committee for biotechnology and chairs the Constellation Search Committee for Information Technology. He has held teaching and research appointments at such universities as Stanford, the University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, and New York University.

Photo by Tom Griffin at http://www.rpi.edu/web/News/Pressimgs/Flaherty.jpg

Contact: Bruce Adams
Phone: (518) 276-6531
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