The First Woman to Be Named Dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University

Ayanna Howard will be the next dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University. The college serves more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students; employs 950 faculty, research scientists and staff; and operates a $150 million-a-year research program.

Dr. Howard will begin her duties at Ohio State on March 1. She will be the first woman to hold the position. Dr. Howard will also be a tenured professor in the college’s department of electrical and computer engineering with a joint appointment in computer science and engineering.

“I’m thrilled to join Ohio State at a time in which there is so much potential to strengthen and build new partnerships in order to expand access and enhance opportunities for the next generation of students, alumni, and for economic development throughout Ohio,” said Professor Howard.

Dr. Howard is currently chair of the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where she is the founder and director of the Human-Automation Systems Lab. She is the founder and president of the board of directors of Zyrobotics, a Georgia Tech spin-off company that develops mobile therapy and educational products for children with special needs. Zyrobotics products are based on Dr. Howard’s research.

From 1993 to 2005, Dr. Howard worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she held multiple roles including senior robotics researcher and deputy manager in the Office of the Chief Scientist. There she developed small robotic devices for research on Mars.

Dr. Howard is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. She also holds an MBA from Claremont Graduate University in California.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Concordia University in Canada Launches New Minor in Black and African Diaspora Studies

Christian Abraham, director of the new minor at Concordia University, says, "there is so much to do within this emerging field of Black Canadian studies. There are lots of grounded and creative sites to work with and from, including our extensive archives at Concordia. It is a very exciting field and a historic moment for Black studies in Canada.”

New Report Sets the Baseline for Future Studies on the Effect of Texas’ DEI Ban on College Campuses

"Ensuring all Texas students have the opportunity to succeed will directly strengthen our workforce and economy," write the report's authors. "While it’s too early to assess the impact of SB 17, continuous monitoring of student outcomes is critical to improving efficiency and maximizing the potential of our future workforce."

Robert Jones Named the First Black President of the University of Washington

Dr. Jones is slated to become the University of Washington's first Black president on August 1. He comes to his new role from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he has served as the institution's first Black chancellor for the past nine years.

Study Uncovers More Evidence That Black Students Are Overrepresented in School Discipline

In an examination of six different kinds of school discipline and punishment, three comparison groups, and 16 subpopulations, a new study has found that "no matter how you slice it, Black students are overrepresented among those punished and excluded."

Featured Jobs