Drexel University College of Engineering, Dean

We are pleased to announce that Drexel University has appointed Eunice E. Santos, PhD, as the inaugural dean of the College of Engineering and Computing. Dr. Santos will also serve as the Thomas E. and Christine D. Berk Endowed Professor and Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science, beginning August 1, 2026. Her appointment marks a pivotal moment in Drexel’s academic transformation and the launch of its newly integrated College of Engineering and Computing.

A nationally recognized leader in computational social systems and academic innovation, Dr. Santos joins Drexel from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she served as dean of the School of Information Sciences from 2019 to 2025. Dr. Santos’s career spans senior academic and administrative roles at institutions including Virginia Tech, Lehigh University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and Illinois Institute of Technology. Her work reflects a deep commitment to interdisciplinary education, experiential learning, and real-world impact. 

An internationally recognized scholar, Dr. Santos has secured tens of millions of dollars in research funding, holds patents related to intelligent data analysis, and has been named a Fellow of both the IEEE and the AAAS. Her research and leadership experience — spanning artificial intelligence, health analytics, and large-scale interdisciplinary collaboration — position her to lead Drexel’s College of Engineering and Computing at a defining moment for the institution and the broader higher education landscape.

Dr. Santos earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Read the full press release here.

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