Rogers named dean of technology and computer sciences

Dr. Ralph Rogers, a noted authority on simulation and modeling, has been named dean of the new College of Technology and Computer Science at East Carolina University.

The college, created by a merger of the School of Industry and Technology and the Department of Computer Science, also will be home to the university’s new engineering program. It will be housed in the $60 million Science and Technology Building, which will open for the fall semester.

Rogers, who joined ECU July 1, most recently was chair of the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at Old Dominion University in Virginia. Also at ODU, he also was director for the National Center for System of Systems Engineering and director for academic programs of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center. Provost William Swart, who selected Rogers for the position after a nationwide search, said: “Dr. Rogers brings a wealth of experience in engineering and technology to the university. He also has an impressive track record with military and distance-education programs.

“But perhaps his most striking accomplishment is that, within a period of only five years, he transformed a lackluster department of engineering management into one that was twice named the No. 1 program in the nation by the American Society for Engineering Management . In the past year, this was the only program in the state of Virginia to be rated No. 1 nationally.”

Rogers said, “I have been given the dream job: To create a new college and plan for a new engineering program. “The real excitement is the opportunity to bring computer science, technology and engineering together in one college, where their complementary missions can be integrated and exploited in original, innovative ways to meet the new and growing challenges fostered by society’s increasing appetite for, and dependence on, technology.”

In addition to Old Dominion University, Rogers has held academic positions at the University of Central Florida and Ohio University. He also has been a senior engineer with Booz-Allen Applied Research and the Naval Electronics Systems Test and Evaluation Detachment.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in industrial and systems engineering, both from Ohio University, and a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Virginia.