Wayne Pennington, chair of the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering, effective May 13. His appointment is expected to end June 30, 2014, or until the search for the next dean is concluded and the dean appointed.
Pennington has been a professor of geophysical engineering at Michigan Tech since 1994 and became GMES department chair in 2003. Prior to coming to the University, he worked with Marathon Oil and was an assistant professor at University of Texas at Austin.
He has held numerous other positions during his career, most recently as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the US Department of State and USAID (Agency for International Development) and as president of the American Geosciences Institute. He was president of the American Geophysical Union Board of Heads and Chairs of earth and space science departments and was first vice president of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
During his appointment as a Jefferson Science Fellow, he worked in the Office of Infrastructure and Engineering within the Bureau of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade. After USAID’s Office of Science and Technology was created in 2010, he shared his appointment in that office.
Pennington received degrees in geophysics and geology from Princeton University (BA), Cornell University (MS) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD).
“I am pleased to have Wayne serving in this position,” said Provost Max Seel. “He has the strong support of the engineering department chairs to lead the College and move forward with the strategic plan.”