Audra N. Morse, chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering has been named interim dean of the College of Engineering at Michigan Technological University, effective June 25.
As interim dean, Dr. Morse seeks to enhance the world-class research, scholarship, and innovation Michigan Tech provides. “It is an honor to support the people and programs that enable our graduates to take the next step in their life journey, and positively impact society and the world around them,” she says.
Dr. Morse led the University’s Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering for the past six years—a department with 32 faculty, 8 full-time staff, and more than 500 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students. During that time Morse led efforts to establish new online programs in structural and water resource engineering with the support of the faculty and staff in the department. She expanded enrollment of the geospatial engineering program nearly tenfold, and fostered faculty research, which resulted in new and increased funding.
Prior to coming to Michigan Tech, Dr. Morse was a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering in the Whitacre College of Engineering at Texas Tech University. She also served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and led the Engineering Opportunities Center. She received the two highest teaching honors at Texas Tech, the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Teaching Award and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
Dr. Morse is an expert in water and wastewater treatment, specifically water reclamation systems and the fate of microplastics in treatment systems. She is a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and has served on numerous committees that support education and accreditation. She is also heavily involved in ABET and is currently a member of the ABET EAC Executive Committee. She earned BS and MS degrees in Environmental Engineering, and a PhD in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech.
“It is an honor to support the people and programs that enable our graduates to take the next step in their life journey, and positively impact society and the world around them.”