Project Description

CarterBaldwin Executive Search and East Carolina University are pleased to announce that Dr. Harry Ploehn has been selected as Dean, College of Engineering and Technology.

Dr. Harry J. Ploehn, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of South Carolina and associate dean for faculty affairs and strategic initiatives in the College of Engineering and Computing, was approved by the ECU Board of Trustees during a special meeting June 2.

Provost Ron Mitchelson said Ploehn is a natural fit for ECU’s growing College of Engineering and Technology, which offers nine undergraduate and seven graduate degrees as well as five certificate programs and educates approximately 2,730 undergraduate and 350 graduate students. The college comprises four departments – computer science, construction management, engineering, and technology systems.

“Harry Ploehn is an exciting addition to ECU’s leadership team,” said Mitchelson. “He will be heading up a key college that we are strategically prioritizing. Dr. Ploehn is not only an accomplished academic with numerous publications, grants and patents, he is also an award-winning teacher and an experienced administrator at a public flagship university. His demonstrated excellence and vision will be instrumental in setting the agenda for ECU’s continued growth.”

Ploehn has been on faculty at USC since 1995 holding academic teaching positions along with serving as vice provost and director of academic planning for two years and interim dean of his college. A fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Ploehn received several teaching awards at USC, including one of its highest honors, the Michael J. Mungo Teaching Award in 1999. He also received the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, 1992-97.

His research focuses on, among other topics, nanotechnology, or the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular or supramolecular scale.

Ploehn holds four U.S. patents, has published 95 peer-reviewed journal articles and has received $9.8 million in 29 externally funded research grants, including 18 as the principal investigator.