Rate My Professor Donald Leo

Donald J. Leo served as the first Dean of the University of Georgia College of Engineering from 2013 to 2024 and held the position of UGA Foundation Professor in Engineering. As a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, his primary research focus is on smart materials. Leo obtained his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University at Buffalo, and his B.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UGA, he was a professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, where he also served as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Engineering, and as vice president and executive director of the university's National Capital Region operations, a role he began after joining Virginia Tech in 1998. In addition, he acted as a program manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he initiated programs in biologically inspired materials and systems and oversaw a portfolio of approximately $50 million in interdisciplinary research.

Throughout his career, Leo has been principal investigator on 50 research grants and contracts, securing about $12 million in extramural funding, and has authored or co-authored more than 200 research publications. Notable works include "Voltage Dependence and Modulation of Bacterial Channel MscL" (2019), "The voltage-dependence of MscL has dipolar and dielectric contributions and is governed by local intramembrane electric field" (2018), "Encapsulating Networks of Droplet Interface Bilayers in a Thermoreversible Organogel" (2018), "Chemoelectric and Electromechanical Modeling of Ionic Polymer Materials: University of Maryland 15–17 October 2001" (2017), and "A 3D printing method for droplet based biomolecular materials" (2017). A Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, Leo's leadership at UGA tripled engineering enrollment from fewer than 1,000 to over 2,800 students, broadened the research enterprise, increased industry and community partnerships, and led the multiyear renovation of the Driftmier Engineering Center into a state-of-the-art instructional hub. His contributions have profoundly impacted engineering education and research in the field.