Areas
The SEAS academic management structure parallels the areas in which our faculty teach. Each faculty member is assigned to a primary teaching area overseen by an Area Dean. Select faculty also have secondary appointments.
Area Deans are a clear single point of responsibility for each academic concentration (existing and proposed) and are responsible for mentoring tenure-track faculty and for the oversight of Area-related searches, reviews, and promotions.
The plan now is to gradually add new parallel degree programs, as was done with bioengineering, over the next few years.
- Area Dean: Michael Brenner
- Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies: Margo Levine
- Area Administrator: Arlene
Stevens
Applied Mathematics focuses on the creation and study of mathematical and computational tools broadly applicable in science and engineering, and on their use in solving challenging problems in these and related fields.
- Area Dean: Eric Mazur
- Area Administrator: Jill
Larson
The frontier of high-energy physics is "the even smaller" and that of astrophysics is "the ever larger." Applied Physics, of which the study of condensed matter is a large part, has its own frontier, "the ever more complex," covering the interfaces of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.
- Area Dean: Rob Howe
- Area Administrator: Arlene Stevens
The application of engineering principles and techniques to address problems in biology and medicine has resulted in a number of important contributions to health and scientific discovery. Research includes understanding aspects of biological function and tackling medical problems by developing instruments and devices that, for example, mimic biological organs or assist in drug delivery.
- Area Dean: Michael Mitzenmacher
- Area Administrator: Tristen Dixey
Faculty and students in computer science investigate a wide range of topics, including ground-breaking work in provably secure cryptography, the implementation of sensor nets, developments at the interface of economics and computer science, and discoveries in VLSI.
- Area Dean: Evelyn Hu
- Area Administrator: Tristen Dixey
Electrical Engineering covers a range of research areas from devices to systems. The emphasis on practice infused with fundamental science and mathematics offers ample research opportunities, both theoretical and experimental, at the forefront of the field and its interdisciplinary applications.
Environmental Science & Engineering
- Area Dean: Steven Wofsy
- Area Administrator: Jill Larson
Faculty are engaged in finding engineered solutions to the problems in the atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic compartments of the earth's environment. Research ranges from atmospheric sciences to microbiology, climate, oceanography, environmental chemistry, water management, and international environmental policy.
Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering
- Area Dean: Joost Vlassak
- Area Administrator: Arlene Stevens
Materials Science & Mechanical Engineering research ranges from fundamental work in solid and fluid mechanics to diverse studies in materials, mechanical systems, and biomechanics. Key areas of investigation include mechanics of materials, structures, and geophysical and biological systems involved phenomena such as elasticity, plasticity, buckling, fracture, and wave motion.
