Contact: Lainie Mazzullo, director of news and media relations, 316-978-3409 or lainie.mazzullo@wichita.edu.
Dennis Livesay, dean of the College of Engineering, has accepted a position as dean
of the College of Computing at Michigan Technological University.
Livesay will become the second dean of the university’s 18-month-old College of Computing.
His last day at WSU will be Jan. 31.
“I love Wichita State and certainly planned on staying here many more years, but this
is a once-in-a-lifetime professional opportunity that I just couldn’t pass up,” Livesay
says. “This position will also allow us to be closer to family – a definite bonus.”
Livesay says there’s a lot he’s proud of in his time at Wichita State. That includes
such achievements as continuing to increase enrollment in the College of Engineering,
creating new programs that support the
Kansas economy, growing research and increasing diversity and the number of graduates
within the college.
Additionally, the college has responded to the digital transformation happening in
many industries by hiring new faculty, and we are in the process of creating the School
of Computing.
There are many other achievements to be proud of, Livesay says, and the future is
clearly bright for the college.
“Even a pandemic can’t stop us from making progress on our strategic initiatives,”
he says. “The College of Engineering is stronger and more important than any one person.
I have complete faith that it will continue to evolve, educate and create new knowledge.”
Shirley Lefever, interim executive vice president and provost, will work with college
faculty and staff to identify an interim dean, and a national search will be conducted
for the permanent position.
Wichita State University serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling
more than 15,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries.
Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation
driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in
the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),
Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of
applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one
of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing
over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
