May 16, 2000

SMU ENGINEERING SCHOOL NAMES NEW DEAN

DALLAS (SMU) — Stephen A. Szygenda, dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a pioneering researcher in computer engineering, has been named the new dean of the Southern Methodist University School of Engineering and Applied Science. He will assume the position August 1.

Szygenda ("Sha-genda") brings a combination of university administration experience, research and teaching expertise, and entrepreneurial talent to his new position as dean of the SMU engineering school. He comes at a time when the school is offering new degree programs, hiring more faculty and expanding its facilities. Next spring the university plans to break ground on a new electrical engineering building named in memory of the late Jerry R. Junkins, former chief executive of Texas Instruments Inc.

In accepting the engineering deanship, Szygenda returns to the university where he was a professor of computer science and electrical engineering from 1970 to 1973. During that time he helped create SMU’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. With more than 30 years experience in computer engineering, including being part of the research team at Bell Telephone Laboratories during the 1960s, Szygenda is a pioneer in the areas of computer simulation, computer-aided design (CAD), fault tolerant computing, telecommunications and software engineering. In addition, he has extensive expertise in business management, technology transfer and entrepreneurship.

"Steve Szygenda is everything we had hoped to find in an engineering dean," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "He has been a dean as well as the chair of a large electrical and computer engineering department. He served on our faculty during the 1970s, so he knows both SMU and Dallas. He has served as president of three high-tech companies and will be able to forge new connections between the SMU engineering school and the corporate community."

Since becoming dean of the UAB engineering school in 1996, Szygenda has reorganized the school into a modern engineering program. His accomplishments include establishing a joint scholarship and internship program; developing executive master’s degrees in software engineering and in information engineering and management; creating a productivity metric and reward plan for faculty; growing his school’s enrollment with a one-year preparatory program for prospective students; and raising private funds and government grants for research projects and centers.

"Steve is an outstanding researcher, administrator and entrepreneur who commands the respect of faculty here and around the country," said SMU Provost Ross Murfin. "That he is interested in leading the SMU engineering school to greater heights is a real compliment to the school and to SMU."
Before UAB, Szygenda was chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also held the Clint W. Murchison Sr. Chair of Free Enterprise. As department chair from 1993 to 1996, he emphasized the need for more industry involvement by creating professional development and executive master’s degree programs for working adults, as well as providing special course scheduling for those students. In addition, he oversaw the creation of new degree programs in software and telecommunications engineering.

Also at UT Szygenda was director of the Center for Technology Development and Transfer (CTDT) from 1986 to 1989. Created by the Texas Legislature, the center helps the state’s universities to commercialize their technology research. He developed a strategic plan universities can use in transferring their technology to market that has become the operating policy of the center. He helped commercialize many new technology transfers in the form of licenses, joint ventures and new companies.

In 1978 Szygenda founded Comprehensive Computing Systems & Services Inc., which provided consulting, training and software development to corporations in CAD, testing and diagnosis, among other things. He sold CCSS to COMSAT General Integrated Systems, where he remained as president. That company was sold to General Electric in 1983. He then became president and CEO of the Rubicon Group, a high-technology venture partnership. He currently is president of SBI Inc., a consulting, strategic study and planning company.

"Steve Szygenda is an excellent choice for the deanship of the SMU School of Engineering and Applied Science," said Al Niemi, dean of SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business and chair of the search committee that selected Szygenda. "He knows the Texas engineering community, he has great administrative experience, and he has been an entrepreneur. I look forward to working with him to make SMU one of the finest schools in the nation."

Over the years Szygenda has received many research grants from government and industry. His honors include being named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Society for Design and Process Sciences (SDPS). Other important awards are the first NCA Award for Outstanding Contributions to CAD, the IEEE Golden Core Award, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Distinguished Lecturer, and the Halliburton Foundation Award for Faculty Excellence.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of SDPS, past member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society, past director of the ACM’s special interest group on Design Automation, past chair of the Computer Aided Systems Design Committee of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Group, and a past member of the IEEE Standing Committees on Education and Simulation.

More than 100 of Szygenda’s students have received master’s degrees and 45 of his students have received Ph.D.’s. He has received outstanding teaching awards from UT and the University of Missouri at Rolla.

Szygenda received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University in 1968 after serving in the U.S. Navy.

Reporters may contact: Ellen Mayou
emayou@mail.smu.edu
SMU Public Affairs
(214) 768-7659