Following an extensive national search, Santa Clara University Provost and Executive Vice President James M. Glaser announced that Kendra V. Sharp has been appointed the next dean of the School of Engineering. She will begin her term in March 2025.
As dean, Sharp will shape a visionary future for the School of Engineering that aligns with SCU’s new strategic plan, Impact 2030. She will build upon the school’s strong foundation to increase its impact in areas where the societal need is great, notably in health care, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the ethics of its use, and sustainability. To ensure Santa Clara-educated engineers are empowered with the ability and drive to address the greatest challenges of the 21st century, Sharp will strengthen support for research, graduate education, and undergraduate programs while fostering a community rooted in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. As dean, she will also engage with alumni, donors, and corporate partners in Silicon Valley, nationally, and internationally.
“Santa Clara University is very fortunate to have a leader of Kendra Sharp’s caliber joining the School of Engineering at this pivotal time,” said Provost Glaser. “Dr. Sharp’s unique blend of academic and administrative experience, combined with her unwavering commitment to fostering a more humane, inclusive, and globally engaged engineering community, promises to elevate the school to even greater heights.”
Since 2021, Sharp has served as the office head of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Office of International Science and Engineering. In this role, her focus is on catalyzing bilateral and multilateral partnerships that advance science and engineering research; increasing access for the U.S. research community to engage in global research that addresses pressing challenges; building a diverse, collaborative STEM workforce to serve the national interest; diversifying NSF’s international partnerships; and growing NSF’s impact through science diplomacy and engagement in international science and technology policy discussions.
Before her NSF appointment, Sharp was the senior adviser for global affairs and associate vice provost for faculty development at Oregon State University. As an OSU faculty member, her research and teaching interests included engineering design for global development, sustainable water and energy systems, and microfluidics. She founded and directed OSU’s Humanitarian Engineering Program, an interdisciplinary initiative to improve the human condition, namely through improved solutions for basic human needs, improved quality of life, or an improved level of community resilience.
Sharp has extensive international research and teaching experience, including as a visiting researcher at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands; an Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand; and as part of the organizing and instructional teams at multi-week international development design summits in India, Pakistan, and Thailand. Sharp also led OSU’s participation in the United States Agency for International Development-funded Partner Center of Advanced Studies in Energy with Arizona State University and two universities in Pakistan.
“Joining Santa Clara University as the dean of the School of Engineering is an incredible honor,” said Sharp. “Being located in the heart of Silicon Valley and having the tremendous resources of the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation offers our students and faculty unparalleled opportunities for innovation and collaboration. I look forward to building on its strong tradition of excellence and leading the school into a new era of discovery and impact.”
Among her accolades, Sharp was OSU’s Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor of Humanitarian Engineering from 2015 to 2020, received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’s Edwin F. Church Medal, and the OSU College of Engineering Faculty Mentoring Award. She is also a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Sharp succeeds Elaine Scott, Ph.D., who, after serving as dean since 2019, announced her desire to return to the engineering faculty.
Sharp earned her bachelor of science in aerospace engineering and her doctoral degree in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She completed a master’s of philosophy in engineering at Churchill College, Cambridge University, and a master’s of engineering in mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sharp and her husband, David Hill, have three teenage daughters. The family loves hiking, climbing, skiing, and cycling and looks forward to being closer to the High Sierra, an area they have frequented over the past three decades. They have two border collie and Australian shepherd mix dogs.
As Dean Sharp completes her appointment at NSF, Professor Chris Kitts who holds appointments as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the William and Janice Terry Professor, and the Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Programs, has graciously agreed to serve as interim dean. Kitts is a gifted scholar, talented researcher, and exceptional teacher who provides students with meaningful experiential opportunities in and outside of the classroom. After this interim appointment, Kitts will continue to serve the Office of the Provost as a senior advisor on research and external partnerships.
About the School of Engineering
The School of Engineering is dedicated to preparing students for professional excellence, responsible citizenship, and service to society. Santa Clara’s dynamic programs in bioengineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, sustainable energy, applied mathematics, and engineering management and leadership provide the theoretical and practical instruction necessary for professional excellence. The school believes that combining expert instruction, a commitment to personalized mentoring, and the promotion of an ethical and entrepreneurial mindset in the curriculum produces a class of engineers who are not only technically outstanding but excellent citizens as well.
About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars, as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. scu.edu.
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Contacts
Lisa Robinson | Communications | lrobinson@scu.edu | 408-551-3601
