New Engineering Dean Takes Reins in January
Jean-Pierre Bardet looks forward to working with UT Arlington faculty, staff, students, and alumni to achieve great things. The chair of the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California takes over as dean of the in January. Dr. Bardet studied engineering at Ecole Centrale in Lyon, France, and earned his master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from the California Institute of Technology. A member of the USC faculty since 1983, he chaired the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department for five years, seeing its enrollment double over that span. During his tenure at USC, he was instrumental in attracting major philanthropic support. 鈥淲e welcome Dr. Bardet to UT Arlington and know that his professional accomplishments and his enthusiasm for education and innovation will help propel the University鈥檚 drive to become a major, national research institution,鈥� President James D. Spaniolo says. Bardet鈥檚 diverse professional interests include civil infrastructure systems, earthquake research, geomechanics, and synthetic track surfaces for horse racing. Most recently, he founded USC鈥檚 multidisciplinary Center on Megacities, which helps prepare and sustain the world鈥檚 largest cities.
鈥�Dr. Bardet brings the College of Engineering and the University national and international recognition,鈥� says Ron Elsenbaumer, provost and vice president for academic affairs. 鈥淎s a scientist, he has made major advances in the field of earthquake engineering. As an administrator, he is a proven progressive and innovative leader.鈥� Bill Carroll stepped down this fall as dean and plans to rejoin the computer science and engineering faculty next聽year.