Tech is preparing to welcome a new dean for the second time this semester, this time of the College of Computing (CoC). Zvi Galil will be taking over from Jim Foley, who has served for two years as the college’s interim dean.
Foley said, “Everyone in the college has been great over the past nearly two years while I have been Interim Dean. We’ve pulled together to continue to strengthen our programs, so that despite a million dollars in budget cuts over the [year], the college is in excellent shape for our new dean. The quality of our students continues upward, new research awards are up by over a third [versus] last year, and enrollments are climbing.”
As dean, Galil will act as the college’s leader and main representative on campus.
A statement on the CoC’s website, www.cc.gatech.edu said, “As the chief academic and administrative officer, Galil will report to the provost and provide overall strategic direction for the college, with particular focus on the faculty’s aspiration to define a new generation of computing through its three academic units: the School of Computer Science, the School of Interactive Computing and the School of Computational Science and Engineering.”
One of Galil’s goals for the college is expanding it’s interdisciplinary programs.
In a talk he gave on-campus in March, Galil said, “Computers have become central to our existence and our well-being. Computing supports science in an essential way, providing an exploratory instrument that accelerates discovery in all branches of science and engineering…The more the College of Computing collaborates, the more central it becomes to institutional success.”
“I am confident that Dean Galil will work with all of us to continue [our] strong record of achievement and growth,” said Foley.
Most recently, Galil was the president of Tel Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, Israel, a position he has held took in 2007 and stepped down from in 2009.
In 1987, he was named the Julian Clarence Levi Professor of Mathematical Methods and Computer Science at Columbia University before becoming the Chairman of Columbia’s Computer Science two years later. In 1995, he became the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Galil’s resume is stocked with honors and accolades. He has served at the head of half a dozen organizations, ranging from the chairman of SIGACT in the Association for Computing Machinery to serving as editor-in-chief for the Journal of Algorithms.
Galil has also authored over 200 papers and articles, and has given 150 talks in over 20 different countries. Galil is also an ACM Fellow.
Galil received a PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University in 1975. .
Galil was contacted by the Technique on his plans for the college, but was unable to comment as of press time.