Dean, School of Engineering and Cyber Systems

United States Coast Guard Academy

New London, Connecticut

The United States Coast Guard Academy seeks a visionary and dynamic leader to serve as the Dean of the School of Engineering and Cyber Systems. This is a unique opportunity to lead a school comprising six distinguished academic programs dedicated to educating and inspiring the next generation of Coast Guard officers in critical engineering disciplines.

About the United States Coast Guard Academy

The United States Coast Guard Academy, located on the Thames River in New London, Connecticut, is a four-year federal service academy that prepares young men and women to lead as officers in the U.S. Coast Guard. It is the only institution of higher learning in the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security. One of the five U.S. service academies, the Coast Guard Academy provides a comprehensive education that blends rigorous academics, character development, physical fitness, and professional training.

The Coast Guard Academy is charged to educate Coast Guard officers academically and professionally. The faculty are a community of scholars and masters of academic disciplines that support the Coast Guard's critical educational, workforce development, research, innovation, and analytic needs. Faculty have the expertise and skills to engage in basic and applied research and professional practice. As a community our purpose is to collaborate with each other, cadets, and the Service to develop and share new knowledge, meeting current and future operational, technical, managerial, fiscal, analytic, and policy challenges.

The Coast Guard Academy features a faculty of 175 civilians and military officers, a Cadet Corps (student body) of 1100, and ten academic majors, housed in three Schools.

In addition to a demanding STEM curriculum, cadets participate in extensive practical experiences, including annual summer training programs on board Coast Guard cutters and at various operational units. The Academy fosters a culture of service, integrity, and teamwork, instilling in its graduates the core values necessary to lead with honor and distinction.

About the School of Engineering and Cyber Systems

The Coast Guard Academy's School of Engineering and Cyber Systems is a dynamic and evolving intellectual community dedicated to providing future Coast Guard officers with a strong foundation in engineering principles and cutting-edge technologies. The School offers four engineering undergraduate degree programs accredited in ABET's engineering accreditation commission (EAC): Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, and Civil & Environmental Engineering. The School also collaborates with other Schools to offer a Cyber Systems major accredited in ABET's computing accreditation commission. A sixth program, launched in 2025, Interdisciplinary Engineering, is actively preparing for initial ABET accreditation through the EAC once the first cohort graduates in 2028.

These programs emphasize hands-on, project-based learning that tightly integrates theory with practice. Faculty are actively engaged in research and supervise cadet capstone projects aligned with the missions of the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard with a focus on innovative technologies across maritime, aerospace, and shore-based support facility domains—including ship design, marine safety, shore infrastructure and robotics and autonomous systems. Faculty and students also pursue research addressing critical national security challenges, such as maritime domain awareness and cybersecurity, with undergraduate projects intentionally designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

The School maintains state-of-the-art laboratories that foster experiential and hands-on learning including a hydro-dynamics lab with a tow tank, a well-equipped manufacturing facility, a cyber security lab and laboratories that support electrical, civil, and environmental engineering. As the primary source of active-duty engineers and cyber professionals for the U.S. Coast Guard, we commit to an educational environment that supports the success of our students, faculty, and staff.

Job Description

The Dean of the School of Engineering and Cyber Systems reports directly to the Provost. The Dean provides strategic leadership, fosters academic excellence, leads School personnel, manages financial resources, and ensures the School's programs align with the institution's mission and the U.S. Coast Guard's strategic priorities.

The selectee will receive an appointment as an academic faculty member at the Coast Guard Academy and assignment as Dean. The selectee is expected to serve as Dean for a period of up to five years and may be renewed. At the conclusion of service as Dean, the selectee may move into a faculty position in a department aligned with the individual's qualifications and discipline. A selectee that possesses at hire academic credentials befitting an appointment as tenured Full Professor, or equivalent professional experience is highly desired.

Key Responsibilities

• Academic Leadership: Provide visionary leadership in curriculum development, program innovation, faculty development and program accreditation.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and implement a strategic plan for the School, aligning with the Coast Guard Academy's overall strategic goals and the U.S. Coast Guard's Force Design 2028 initiative (https://www.uscg.mil/leadership/commandants-initiatives/forcedesign2028/).
• Resource Management: Manage the School's budget, personnel, and facilities effectively and efficiently.
• Faculty Development: Recruit, mentor, and evaluate faculty, fostering a culture of excellence in teaching, research, and service.
• Accreditation & Assessment: Ensure the School maintains ABET accreditation, exceeds accreditation standards and implements effective assessment processes; champion a culture of continuous improvement, and contribute as necessary to the Academy's NECHE accreditation practices.
• External Relations: Cultivate relationships with industry, government, and academic partners to enhance the School's research and educational programs.
• Recruit and retain talented students. Collaborate with the Admissions team and the Service to identify, attract, select, guide, and graduate a capable technical workforce.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Doctorate in a field relevant to the School (e.g., engineering, computer science, or a closely related discipline) from an accredited institution.
• Demonstrated academic leadership experience at an accredited higher education institution, with a successful record of progressive responsibility; or comparable experience in a professional setting outside of higher education.
• Strong commitment to public service, undergraduate education, and the development of future leaders.
• Evidence of alignment to U.S. Coast Guard Core Values of honor, respect and devotion to duty.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A distinguished record of achievement in teaching, research, and service that merits appointment as a tenured Full Professor in one of the Academy's academic departments.
• Exceptional leadership skills demonstrated by proven ability to effectively steer meaningful enhancements to curriculum, organizational structure, culture, and utilization of physical space.
• Deep understanding of undergraduate education and trends in, curricular innovation, learning science, and modern pedagogies that support effective teaching and learning.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills. Demonstrated ability to clearly and effectively communicate objectives, priorities, and challenges to faculty, students, and a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success working collaboratively with and across other academic or support units (e.g., other Deans, Business Office, Student Success Office, Research Office) to accomplish shared goals for the institution.
• Demonstrated ability to manage budgets, personnel, and facilities effectively; experience with federal budgets, or operating in a federal funding framework, is highly desirable.
• Documented history of successful stakeholder engagement and support.
• Understanding of ABET accreditation processes and assessment methodologies.
• Success supporting faculty professional growth and scholarship. The perspective, expertise, experience, and ability to motivate and enable faculty to adapt their research and teaching to meet emerging challenges and needs across the maritime, aerospace, shore-based facility and cyber security domains is highly desired.
• Success leading organizational change and major initiatives in an academic, educational, or similar environment.
• Familiarity with the unique challenges and opportunities of a federal service academy environment.
• Understanding of, and appreciation for, the importance of the maritime community and the missions of the U.S. Coast Guard.