The five finalists for Iowa State’s next James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering will be coming to Ames in March for campus visits and to host open forums.

According to the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost’s website, candidates will be announced one business day before their campus visit. 

Each candidate will also host an open forum to answer questions and interact with students, faculty, staff, stakeholders and the community. All open forums will be from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall.

According to the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost’s website, the first candidate will be visiting March 3 through 5 with their open forum on March 4.

Following, the second candidate will be on campus March 10 through 12 with an open forum on March 11.

The third candidate will visit campus from March 13 through 15 and host their open forum on March 14.

The fourth candidate will visit March 24 through 26  with their open forum on March 25.

The fifth and final candidate will visit Iowa State March 26 through 28 with their open forum on March 27.

Sarah Rajala, dean of the College of Engineering, announced her plans to retire at the end of the academic year in August. Rajala has served in the position since April 2013. In December of 2017, it was announced she would be reappointed to a five year term.

Gary Mirka, professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering and former associate dean and department chair, and Luis Rico-Gutierrez, dean of the College of the Design, are co-chairs of the dean search committee. In the fall semester, the pair hosted two listening sessions to hear input about what students, faculty and staff wanted to see in the next dean of the College of Engineering.