Jamie Phillips, chair of the University of Delaware's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2020, has been named the interim dean of the College of Engineering, President Dennis Assanis and Provost Laura Carlson announced today.

Effective Aug. 1, Phillips will serve as interim dean while the national search continues for the next leader of the college. Levi Thompson, the current dean and Elizabeth Inez Kelly Professor of Chemical Engineering, will complete his term at the end of July.

“Jamie is an outstanding researcher who is committed to advancing undergraduate and graduate education, and his demonstrated leadership skills will ensure that the College of Engineering continues its upward trajectory during this critical transition period,” Assanis said. “I look forward to working closely with him and Provost Carlson to continue expanding the reach and impact of UD’s highly ranked engineering program.”

Carlson said Phillips has made significant contributions to UD since joining the faculty as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“Jamie has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to service for our academic community, and this, coupled with his impressive research portfolio and strong record of excellence in teaching position him well to lead the college during this time,” Carlson said. “I am grateful that he will serve UD in this new role.”

Phillips said he is honored to serve as interim dean.

“The strength of UD’s engineering program and its potential for even greater prominence are what drew me to Delaware, so I am grateful for this opportunity to work alongside President Assanis, Provost Carlson and all of my colleagues to advance this important goal,” Phillips said.

UD’s engineering program is ranked #38 in the nation by the 2025 edition of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Graduate Schools, a jump of four spots, and its consistently top-ranked chemical engineering graduate program is #7.

The national search will continue, with the advisory search committee co-chair by Cathy Wu, Unidel Edward G. Jefferson Chair in Engineering and Computer Science, and Miguel Garcia-Diaz, Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Innovation.

Assanis and Carlson also thanked Jamie Phillips and Millicent Sullivan, Alvin B. and Julie O. Stiles Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and department chair, for their exceptional leadership of the search advisory committee thus far.

About Jamie Phillips

Phillips earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a research scientist at the Rockwell Science Center in Thousand Oaks, California.

Prior to joining UD, Phillips was an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, where he served in roles of associate chair of undergraduate affairs in the ECE Division and director of the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility.

He is a fellow of Optica, the leading society in optics and photonics. He has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a DARPA MTO Young Faculty Award, IEEE Electron Devices Society Paul Rappaport Best Paper Award, and IEEE Education Society Theodore E. Batchman Best Paper Award.

His research interests are in new optoelectronic materials and devices based on compound semiconductors for the next generation of infrared detector systems, solar photovoltaics, IoT energy-harvesting devices and biomedical sensors. His research group aims to collaboratively solve grand challenges in energy, security and health. In the classroom, Phillips incorporates inclusive teaching practices, design-infused curriculum development and experiential learning.