Joseph Tedesco
Dean, Cullen College of Engineering

Joseph Tedesco is the new dean of the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston. Tedesco was selected as the college’s sixth dean in August 2007 and officially began his appointment at the beginning of this year.

“In my first few weeks as dean, I have been extremely impressed with the positive spirit and attitude exhibited by the entire UH community and how committed everyone is to working together to enhance the reputation and prestige of UH,” Tedesco said. “The Cullen College of Engineering has a large number of exceptional quality faculty members conducting word-class research in several areas of critical societal need. I look forward to working with the engineering faculty to build upon these research pillars of excellence, particularly in the fields of energy and natural resources, nano-scale materials, and biomedical engineering and sciences.”

Prior to arriving at UH, Tedesco served as professor and chairman of the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Florida. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Lehigh University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the states of Florida and Alabama and is the author of the internationally renowned textbook “Structural Dynamics: Theory and Applications.”

Tedesco has also held academic positions at Auburn University, Oregon State University and Lehigh University. He is a six-time U.S. Air Force Research Fellow and has worked in residence at several Air Force Research Laboratories, including Tyndall AFB and Eglin AFB. His field of specialization is structural engineering, and his research interests include finite element modeling of structures, response of structures to dynamic loads and high strain rate effects on materials and structures. He has served as principal investigator on more than 25 federally funded research projects and plans to utilize his wealth of expertise to help the Cullen College of Engineering continue to build upon its decades of success.

“Several of my priorities for the college are to enhance student recruitment and retention in the undergraduate program, facilitate growth of the graduate program, particularly at the Ph.D. level, and expand our research enterprise, especially as it pertains to federally funded research initiatives,” he said.