James M. Tien

James M. Tien, who, as dean of the University of Miami’s College of Engineering for the past seven years, led successful efforts to double the number of women on the faculty, increase research expenditures, and boost enrollments at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, has announced he will step down from his post effective August 31, 2015.

“It has indeed been my privilege to have served in this capacity,” said Tien, who came to UM in 2007 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he served as the Yamada Corporation Professor and founding chair of the school’s Department of Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems.

“Dean Tien has led the College of Engineering through an era of enormous change,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc. “He has strengthened the research and graduate education programs within the college, while simultaneously reinforcing the importance of undergraduate education. Equally important, his distinguished scholarly career has served as a role model for a new generation of faculty.”

Among his many accomplishments at UM’s College of Engineering, Tien is credited with hiring a number of world-class faculty members; establishing a better career ladder for staff; proactively engaging students, industry, and alumni in the academic process; enhancing the college’s national reputation, both internally and externally; securing major gifts and donations; and changing the faculty culture in connection with the integration of research and education.

“Dean Tien has presided over the College of Engineering for a terrific tenure, achieving significant increases in both the number and quality of engineering students while overseeing substantial enhancements in our facilities,” said Ed Williamson, UM trustee and chair of the College of Engineering’s Visiting Committee.

Tien helped usher in a new era of research at the college, securing a Momentum2 gift that has established the Fortinet CyberSecurity Laboratory, which promises to propel the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to the forefront of research and education in cybersecurity.

Last November Tien was tapped into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor attainable at UM.

In 2001 Tien was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering. His research interests include systems modeling, public policy, decision analysis, and information systems. He has served on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Board of Directors (2000-04) and was its vice president in charge of the Publication Services and Products Board and the Educational Activities Board.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer and his Ph.D. in systems engineering and operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.