Dean Dennis Livesay Brings Extensive Experience to his New Role
By Karen S. Johnson, Communications Director, College of Computing
Dean Dennis Livesay brings to the Michigan Tech College of Computing more than 20 years of experience in academic administration, teaching, and research. And while his Ph.D. is in physical chemistry, an overarching theme of his career is definitely computing.
So, how did Livesay blend a career in chemistry and computing? It began with a change of plans and a fascination for molecular science.
A life-changing choice.
The first in his family to pursue higher education, as a high school senior Livesay had planned to attend Purdue University. Instead, life led him to Ball State University in what turned out to be a life-changing choice. It was there that he discovered his love of research, and he began to recognize the emerging importance of computing and simulation in the research realm.
Livesay’s research spans biophysics, chemistry, computing, and data science, with the goal of understanding protein family sequence/structure/function relationships. He brings this multi-disciplinary mindset to his administrative roles, along with an extensive portfolio of professional achievements and a commitment to advancing Computing within the academic sphere.
The parallels are many.
These are qualities and activities well-matched to the aspirations of the Michigan Tech College of Computing. The parallels are many, giving Livesay the insight and depth of experience to lead Michigan Tech’s College of Computing into the future.
As dean of the College of Engineering at Wichita State, where he worked from 2016 to 2021, Livesay’s leadership led to a number of milestones, including creation of a School of Computing, new undergraduate degree programs in computer science and applied computing, and master’s degree programs in data science and computing, which are based on stackable certificates in cybersecurity, software engineering, computer networks, and data science. He also served as dean of the Graduate School and associate vice president of Research and Technology Transfer, and he was a tenured full professor of both biomedical engineering and chemistry.
Also during Livesay’s tenure, Wichita State was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE), the College of Engineering was part of the AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning (IFML), which was established with a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation, and the college set a record for externally funded research.
Livesay’s success advancing the computing disciplines started well before his substantial success at Wichita State. At University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 2008 to 2014, Livesay was a founding member of the Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics within the College of Computing and Informatics, where he was a tenured full professor. He was the founding director of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Ph.D. program and also established the university’s Charlotte Research Scholars program, a campus-wide undergraduate research program.
Empowering students and researchers.
“The digital transformation of academia—and our world—is well underway,” Livesay says. “My overarching goal is to address the widespread disruption caused by the data revolution through programs and initiatives to empower students and researchers to succeed within this new paradigm.”
“Michigan Tech grads have gained a reputation as professionals ready to hit the ground running,” Livesay notes. “Higher education needs to stay ahead of the curve. In today’s evolving workplace, this is more important than ever.”
