Sarah Rajala, Dean of the College of Engineering, was reappointed to a five-year term as dean on Thursday morning.

Rajala has served as dean of the college since 2013 and this will be her second five-year term in the position.

“It is a great privilege to lead the college’s 9,600 students and 500 faculty and staff,” Rajala said. “I am proud of our work to this point, and look forward to even greater accomplishments in the years to come.”

During her tenure as dean, Rajala has received a number of accolades, including the 2016 National Engineer of the Year award from the American Association of Engineering Societies.

The College of Engineering is the largest college at Iowa State, Rajala oversees over 9,600 students and 12 academic majors in her position.

Rajala is one of three female deans at Iowa State, along with Laura Jolly, dean of the College of Human Sciences and Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Engineering has always been one of Iowa State’s core strengths, as evidenced by its record enrollments, research funding and highly successful alumni,” said Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen. “I very much appreciate [Rajala’s] leadership, and I know it will continue during her next term as dean.”

The College of Engineering Dean Evaluation Committee was responsible for managing the review process of Rajala, and was made up of faculty from both within the college and outside. The committee was chaired by Steve Michelson from the agricultural and biosystems engineering department.