RIT Appoints Vice Dean in College of Applied Science and Technology

The College of Applied Science and Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology has named Carol Richardson to the position of vice dean and the Paul A. Miller Distinguished Professor.

Previously chair of RIT’s Department of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering Technology, a position she held since 1994, Richardson, as vice dean, oversees all college faculty affairs, including scholarship and professional development, and has responsibility for many college operational administrative functions. As Miller Professor, she will pursue special projects, including women-in-engineering programs and those related to national engineering technology professional leadership roles.

“Carol has served as department chair with distinction for the past 10 years,” says Wiley McKinzie, dean. “I look forward to her bringing to the vice dean position the same academic administrative excellence she exhibited as chair, as well as her unique perspective and strength to the area of women in engineering in her role as Miller Professor.”

Richardson, of Perinton, began her career as a design engineer for the telecommunications systems division of Collins Radio Co. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was later an instrumentation and control engineer and an engineering supervisor with General Electric Co. in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1978, she joined the faculty of RIT, where, in 1989, she helped develop the university’s telecommunications engineering technology program—the first program of its kind accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Richardson earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming in Laramie and a master’s in electrical engineering from Union College in Schenectady. She is chair of the engineering technology division of the American Society for Engineering Education and serves on the technology accreditation commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. She is past chair of the Rochester section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and past president of the Rochester Engineering Society and the Society of Women Engineers. She chaired the Society of Women Engineers Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, “Women Making History,” hosted at RIT earlier this month.

“I am excited about increasing outreach activities as the Miller Professor and assisting with the operations of college departments and working with faculty members as the vice dean,” Richardson says.

Established in honor of former RIT President Paul Miller by the RIT Board of Trustees in 1981, the Paul A. Miller Professorship recognizes RIT faculty making distinguished contributions to continuing education.

Michael Eastman, of Honeoye Falls, has been named acting chair of RIT’s Department of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering Technology, replacing Richardson. Eastman, an RIT alumnus, joined the RIT faculty as an adjunct professor in 1993 and advanced to assistant professor in 1996 and associate professor in 2002. He also worked as a senior systems engineer with Intel Corp. and was an RIT graduate assistant from 1985 to 1987.

“Working as chair of the department provides me with a great opportunity to contribute to RIT in a new and different capacity,” Eastman says. “I look forward to learning and growing in this new role.”


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