Wayne Knox, Director of The Institute of Optics, is stepping down from that role after ten years to become Associate Dean of Education and New Initiatives at the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He will succeed Tom Hsiang, who has decided to return to the faculty.
Knox led The Institute through a period of substantial growth, which included the construction of the $37 million Robert B. Goergen Building, the development of the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and Engineering, and the addition of the Center for Institute Ventures.
The Institute of Optics, a department within the Hajim School, was founded in 1929 as the first optics education program in the United States. The Institute has granted more than 2400 degrees, approximately half of all the degrees in optics in the country and is often considered the top optics program in the nation.,/p>
Gary Wicks, who has served as Associate Director of The Institute of Optics, will become interim director while a search is conducted for a permanent successor.
Tom Hsiang, the current Associate Dean for Education at the Hajim School, guided the school through the recent successful accreditation of all of the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) undergraduate engineering programs. Hsiang has also been instrumental in implementing the GEAR program, which attracts undergraduates to the University's engineering program, and expanding "Senior Design Day" beyond the biomedical engineering department to highlight the real-world innovations across the entire Hajim School.
The administrative changes will take effect on July 1.