Ilesanmi Adesida, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, was appointed interim dean of the College of Engineering at the Urbana campus during an April 8 teleconference of the UI Board of Trustees executive committee.
The appointment will begin June 1 and continue until the trustees appoint a permanent dean. Through May 31, Adesida will serve as interim dean-designate and assist Dean David E. Daniel until Daniel leaves to assume the presidency of the University of Texas at Dallas on June 1.
Adesida also holds appointments as Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering; institute affiliate at the Institute for Genomic Biology and at Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology; and research professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory.
In other business, the trustees approved conferring an honorary doctorate of letters degree to Bill Geist, the best-selling author, journalist and CBS News correspondent, who will speak at the May 15 commencement ceremony at Urbana. A UI alumnus, Geist is a correspondent for “CBS Sunday Morning” and has contributed to the “CBS Evening News” and “60 Minutes II.” Earlier in his career, Geist was a journalist with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. He has written six books and numerous magazine articles. His work in television and newspaper reporting earned him an Emmy Award and numerous other honors.
