CWRU appoints new dean of engineering

Contact: Kathleen McDermott, 216-368-6518, kmm5@po.cwru.edu

Posted 8/11/97

CLEVELAND -- James W. Wagner has been appointed dean of the Case School of Engineering (CSE) at Case Western Reserve University. Wagner, 44, professor and chair of materials science and engineering at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), will become dean effective January 1, 1998.

As dean, Wagner will be responsible for undergraduate and graduate education and research programs. He will review recommendations for faculty appointments, promotions, and tenure and develop the annual operating budget. Wagner also will assume responsibility for alumni relations and fund raising to support the school's operating budget and capital needs.

"James Wagner brings a distinguished record in teaching, research, and administration to the position of dean of the Case School of Engineering," Agnar Pytte, president of CWRU, said. "His broad interest in materials, biomedical, and electrical engineering will help strengthen the school's interdisciplinary efforts and promote opportunities for closer interaction with industry. I am convinced that Professor Wagner will make important contributions to existing as well as new programs at the School of Engineering."

Wagner, who lives in Annapolis, joined the faculty of JHU as assistant professor in 1984, was appointed associate professor in 1988, and became professor in 1993. He holds a joint appointment in biomedical engineering at JHU's Whiting School of Engineering. Prior to joining JHU, he was an electronics engineer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Wagner is noted for his contributions to materials science especially in the area of nondestructive evaluation and characterization of materials. His research involves using laser-based testing technologies that make it possible to evaluate the performance of materials without stressing the materials' limits or destroying them.

His research is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and industry. In the area of biomedical engineering, Wagner has studied the surface-wear properties of artificial joint replacements, specifically in hips.

"The Case School of Engineering has talented faculty, unusually strong alumni support, and a genuine commitment from the University's administration," Wagner said. "These factors, combined with the foundation of an already strong program, will help advance the Case School of Engineering's position of leadership in engineering education and research. New challenges for our graduates also will require building upon strong ties with the other CWRU schools. This will benefit the engineering school and help to support the broader mission of the University."

Wagner earned the bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware, and the master's and Ph.D. from JHU. During his four-year term as chairman of the materials science department at JHU, it attracted $6.5 million in new research support and had the highest per-faculty research support rate of the JHU engineering departments. The department's tenured and tenure-track faculty increased from five to nine, and on average the department produced eight Ph.D. graduates annually.

Wagner has received numerous teaching and research awards throughout his career. He is a member of the National Research Council's National Materials Advisory Board, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Materials Research Society, and the Biomedical Engineering Society, among others.

Wagner currently chairs the Whiting School's Materials Initiative Council, which is charged with coordinating curriculum and research proposals related to materials science and engineering, and is director of the Materials Center of Excellence: Advanced Materials Characterization. He also chairs the dean's faculty advisory committee, the university's Research and Intellectual Property Policy Committee, and is technical program director of the Microelectronics Research Collaborative Program.

-CWRU-

The Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University has more than a century of tradition in engineering education and research. Founded in 1880, today the school is listed in the top 25 percent of the nation's 219 graduate programs as ranked in "America's Best Graduate Schools" published by U.S. News & World Report. The school's biomedical engineering and polymer program each ranked fifth. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in nine disciplines. It has an enrollment of 1,032 undergraduate students and 780 graduate students, 105 full time faculty, 14,000 alumni, and an endowment of $108 million. External research support amounts to $26.1 million or about $247,000 per faculty member. Eleven present and past members of the CWRU engineering faculty have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors given to an engineer.

Case Western Reserve University ranks 15th among the nation's private research universities in federal awards to support research and development, with more than $159 million from all sources in support of research and other sponsored projects during 1995-96. It is the largest research institution of its kind in Ohio. Its origins date to 1826. CWRU has more than 9,900 undergraduate, graduate and professional school students, from all 50 states and more than 80 nations, and has more than 90,000 alumni. CWRU employs more than 1,900 full-time faculty in more than 60 academic areas of study. CWRU comprises the College of Arts and Sciences; the Case School of Engineering; the School of Graduate Studies; Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences; School of Dentistry; School of Medicine; School of Law; Weatherhead School of Management; and Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. CWRU has an annual budget of $388 million and an endowment of more than $995 million.