Mark Law, chair of UF's Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, was named associate dean for academic affairs, effective Sept. 4.

Mark Law said he sees the future of the College of Engineering as a bright one.

And so is his.

Law, the chairman of the College's Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, officially started as associate dean for academic affairs Friday, and he couldn't be more pleased.

"I like new challenges," he said.

Dean Cammy Abernathy said she is delighted to welcome him to the College's administrative team.

"He has been an outstanding department chair and faculty member for many years," Abernathy said. "He has tremendous experience with academic issues and faculty development."

Law, who holds master's and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, spent the past six years as chair of his department. He came to the University 21 years ago as an assistant professor. Before UF, Law worked at Hewlett-Packard from 1982 to 1985. 

On top of an impressive battery of awards bearing his name (everything from National Science Foundation Presidential Faculty Fellow to Iowa State Outstanding Young Alumni to College of Engineering Teacher of the Year to UF Research Fellow to IEEE Fellow - and that's just a sample), Law has written more than 200 papers on process and device modeling and has advised 17 Ph.D. students. He has had a part in nearly $15 million of research funding throughout his career.

In 2008, Law and his colleagues won a prestigious multi-million dollar AFSOR MURI (or Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) grant to establish a center focused on the reliability of military computer chips. Law is currently the head investigator.

And now he's taking on another challenge.

In his new position, Law said he will be in charge of faculty development and training, and will help professors understand the rules in areas such as teaching, graduate recruitment and how to handle research contracts. He will also oversee the tenure and promotion process for faculty members, and the hiring of new faculty as he works with the departments to continually increase diversity.

Overseeing the College's curriculum will also be included in his list of responsibilities, and he said he's especially looking forward to this part of his job.  

"I think that there's a lot of national change afoot in the way engineering is taught," he said. "I'm very excited to work with faculty toward reorienting curriculum." 

He will also be in charge of the accreditation process the College faces every six years, with the next one coming up in 2012. 

Law said he is thrilled about these immediate aspects of his job, but his goals are more long-term, including offering more engineering classes to freshmen and sophomores, and offering more interdisciplinary options for both undergraduate and graduate students.

He also recognizes the importance of a strong faculty, and so he's intent on deepening the strength of the faculty.

"He works well with faculty," Abernathy said. "He understands the importance of shared governance and involving faculty in the operation of the College."

As Law said, "Our faculty are the future of the College."