The Florida Engineer

How does one sum up eight years of leading the College of Engineering at the University of Florida?

It seems like yesterday when I wrote excitedly on this page about our return to Gainesville after 17 years in the Midwest and being amazed by all the changes that had taken place, such as the demise of our favorite restaurant Brown Derby. (We learned later it had burned down.) Sadly, Alachua General Hospital will close down later this year. Our first child was born at AGH. Change is the only constant.

Serving as Dean has been an immensely rewarding experience. I was welcomed and warmly accepted by the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the College. As an alum myself, I was equally enthusiastic and eager to embrace my alma mater and lead it toward being a world-class institution of engineering education, research, and outreach devoted to serving the people of the State of Florida, the nation, and the world. While only history can be the judge, I hope we made major strides toward this goal.

There were many challenges: fierce worldwide competition for talented faculty and students, budgets, rapid changes in engineering, and economic globalization — to name just a few. Among all these, our central focus was on attracting and retaining the most talented faculty and students and providing them with an exciting environment for research and education, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and support to excel. I hope we did this well as it is the single most important determinant of our future.

The University of Florida, one of the largest public research universities in the world, is the best exemplar of the challenges and opportunities in higher education. I aimed to balance competing missions of undergraduate education, graduate education, advanced research, and public service. In a cross weave, I strove to align the long-term interests of students, with ambitious aspirations of faculty and stiff demands placed on staff. These exercises in striking the right balance, finding deep interconnections, and fostering the synergies between education and research taught me a lot about how to lead in a major public research university. I hope the College community will continue to explore these synergies and interconnections so we continue to improve all aspects of engineering education and research for serving humanity.

During this exhilarating journey, my wife, Seema, and I made many friends. We will cherish these relationships and bonds. We are so grateful for the affection and love we received during these last eight years. While I will no longer be the Dean of Gator Engineering, we will remain the biggest boosters for successes of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends.

Go Gator Engineers,

Pramod P. Khargonekar
Dean
ppk@eng.ufl.edu