College Leadership
Pamela Norris
Dean
pnorris@udel.edu
Pamela M. Norris began her tenure as dean of College of Engineering in 2025. A professor of mechanical engineering, Norris is recognized globally as a leading expert in nanoscale heat transfer. An interdisciplinary scientist, she holds patents for innovative thermal management techniques for jet-blast deflectors and landing pads and for applications of aerogels in areas that include biological warfare detection and lab-on-a-chip. She is well-known for her mentoring skills and for her dedication to broadening participation in the STEM disciplines. She is an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a fellow of the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers, a receipt of the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award and a Senator at the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF). Norris earned a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from Old Dominion University, a masters and doctoral degree from Georgia Tech, and completed post-doctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Dawn M. Elliott
Associate Dean for Graduate and Postgraduate Education
Blue & Gold Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Dawn Elliott is Blue & Gold Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate and Post-Graduate Education. A biomechanical engineer by training, she is internationally known for her research focused on low back pain and osteoarthritis, studying how and why the intervertebral spine and cartilage break down with aging and developing and testing therapeutics used in treatment. Elliott, who joined UD in 2011 as director of the biomedical engineering program, spent 12 years in the University of Pennsylvania’s Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where she has served on the Bioengineering Division executive committee and in 2012 chaired the Summer Bioengineering Conference in Puerto Rico. Elliott earned a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from University of Michigan, a masters of engineering mechanics from University of Cincinnati and a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University.
Joshua Enszer
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Dr. Joshua Enszer has been a member of the UD faculty since 2015 and currently serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. His research focuses on chemical engineering education, including game-based learning, metacognition, and modeling and simulation. Dr. Enszer earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Mathematics from Michigan Technological University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. In his new role as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Dr. Enszer will provide leadership in key areas such as enrollment management, advisement, recruitment, student development and support, K-12 engineering outreach, college event planning, educational assessment and evaluation, and global engineering initiatives.
Jamie Phillips
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Dr. Jamie Phillips joined the University of Delaware in 2020 as Professor and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From August 2024 through February 2025, he served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, providing steady leadership during a transitional period. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Phillips will oversee the full spectrum of faculty-related processes, including recruitment, hiring, mentorship, promotion and tenure, awards, and retention. He will also be responsible for shaping the college’s culture and engagement at both the university and community levels.
Srikanth Pilla
Associate Dean for Research
Dr. Srikanth Pilla is a Professor and Director of the Center for Composite Materials at the University of Delaware (UD-CCM) with faculty appointments in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He is also the Founding Director of ‘AIM for Composites’, a Department of Energy funded Energy Frontier Research Center. Pilla earned his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a postdoctoral training from Stanford University. Prior to joining UD-CCM, Pilla held the ExxonMobil Employees Chair in Engineering at Clemson University and was the founding director of the Clemson Composites Center. Pilla also worked as an Assistant Scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Pilla’s research interests are in the fundamentals and applications of sustainable and lightweight functional materials and manufacturing. Pilla has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed archival publications. His research is supported by NSF, DOE, USDA, DOD, and NASA, besides several foundations and industries including automotive OEMs, and their suppliers.
Jenni Buckley
Associate Dean for Corporate Engagement and Entrepreneurship
jbuckley@udel.edu
Jenni M. Buckley is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Delaware (UD), where she is a proud alumna (BME 2001). She received her PhD (2006) in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at University of California, San Francisco. She has nearly 25 years of engineering experience in product design with an emphasis on medical devices, consumer products, and design validation.
Dean’s Staff
Academic Leadership
Rachel Davidson
Chair, Department of Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering
Donald C. Phillips Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Davidson is Donald C. Phillips Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering and a core faculty member in the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware. After completing her B.S.E. from Princeton University and M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University, Davidson spent two years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, then six years at Cornell University, both as an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering. Following a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Columbia University, she joined the faculty at UD in 2007. Davidson is a Fellow and Past-President of the Society for Risk Analysis, and past-Chair of the Executive Committee of the ASCE Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE). She has been a mentor for the NSF-funded Career Enhancement of Academic Women in Earthquake Engineering (ENHANCE) program and the NSF-funded “Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards and Disaster Researchers” program.
Hui Fang
Chair, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Prof. Fang’s research interests focus on text information management, especially in the areas of information retrieval (also known as search engine technology), text mining and bioinformatics.
Lt Col Brian F. Nicholas
Detachment Commander
bnich@udel.edu
Lt Col Brian F. Nicholas currently serves as the commander of Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment 128 hosted at the University of Delaware. He directs a college-level Air and Space Froce officer training program as the Chairman of Aerospace Studies Department and is a Professor of National Security Studies. Detachment 128 comprises cadets from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Wilmington University, and Delaware Technical Community College. Before assuming his current position, Lt Col Nicholas was the Chief of the B-21 Raider Program Integration Office, Air Force Global Strike Command, Whiteman AFB, MO. Lt Col Nicholas received his commission from the University of Pittsburgh AFROTC in 2007. He current holds both a Navigator and Senior Pilot ratings with over 3000 flying hours in T-43, T-1A, T-38A/C, T-6A, KC-135R/T, C-12C/D, E-11A, and B-52H. He has flown combat missions in operations Inherent Resolve, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, and Unified Protector.
Weisong Shi
Chair, Department of Computer & Information Sciences
Alumni Distinguished Professor
Weisong Shi is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware (UD), where he leads the Connected and Autonomous Research (CAR) Laboratory. Dr. Shi is an internationally renowned expert in edge computing, autonomous driving, and connected health. Before joining UD, he was a professor at Wayne State University (2002-2022) and served in multiple administrative roles, including Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Engineering and Interim Chair of the Computer Science Department. Dr. Shi also served as a National Science Foundation (NSF) program director (2013-2015) and chair of two technical committees of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society. Dr. Shi has published more than 280 articles in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He is the founding steering committee chair of several conferences, including the ACM/IEEE Symposium on Edge Computing (SEC), IEEE/ACM International Conference on Connected Health (CHASE), and IEEE International Conference on Mobility (MOST). He is a fellow of IEEE and a distinguished member of ACM.
Millicent O. Sullivan
Chair, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Alvin B. and Julie O. Stiles Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Millicent Sullivan is the Alvin B. and Julie O. Stiles Professor and the Associate Chair of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware, and she also is a Professor in Biomedical Engineering at UD. Millie graduated from Princeton University with a B.S.E. degree in Chemical Engineering and a Certificate in Engineering Biology in 1998. Subsequently, she attended Carnegie Mellon University as a Clare Boothe Luce Graduate Fellow, where she earned her Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering with Professor Todd Przybycien in 2003. As a Ruth L. Kirchstein NIH postdoctoral fellow, Millie worked with Professor E. Helene Sage in the Matrix Biology/Hope Heart Program of the Benaroya Research Institute. In 2006, Millie moved to the University of Delaware. Her laboratory develops new biomaterials for drug delivery, gene delivery, and tissue engineering, with specific therapeutic targets including metastatic breast cancer, bone repair, wound healing, and cardiovascular repair. Her lab has new work in synthetic cell design using engineered polypeptides. Specific fundamental foci include de novo peptide design, peptide and polymer self-assembly, and subcellular processing mechanisms. Sullivan is Core Director in the Delaware COBRE Center for Musculoskeletal Research, a member of the Penn Center for Targeted Therapeutics and Translational Nanomedicine (CT3N), and an Affiliate Member of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. She is an AIMBE fellow, member of the Gene and Drug Delivery study section at NIH, and Honorary Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Melbourne, and she has been the recipient of awards and honors including a Fulbright Future Award, the Centennial Professorship, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Merck Faculty Fellow Award.
Bert Tanner
Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
btanner@udel.edu
Tanner is a professor and director of the Center for Autonomous and Robotic Systems. His research focuses on the planning and control of robotic systems, with particular emphasis on coordinating multiple systems to work together. In addition to his research accomplishments, Tanner has demonstrated sustained leadership within the University through his service as associate chair for Graduate Education, where he has helped strengthen academic programs, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and support student success.
Joshua Zide
Chair, Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Dr. Zide’s research interests focus primarily on the nanoscale engineering of novel semiconductor and composite electronic materials for energy conversion and (opto) electronic devices. More specifically, Dr. Zide’s work focuses on the epitaxial growth of semiconductors and metal/semiconductor nanocomposites by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). These nanocomposites consist of conventional III V semiconductors with epitaxially-embedded nanoparticles. The resulting material can have electronic, optical, and thermal properties which are extremely different from the constituent materials. New semiconductors being explored include dilute bismuthides, in which the incorporation of small amounts of bismuth cause anamolously narrow bandgaps, making these materials useful for optoelectronics and thermoelectrics.
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