Natacha DePaola Named IIT Dean of Engineering
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Provost Alan Cramb today announced the appointment of Natacha DePaola as dean of IIT Armour College of Engineering. DePaola joins IIT from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where she has been chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering since 2005 and on the faculty since 1994. Before RPI, DePaola was assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University.
“Natacha DePaola brings the experience, energy, and innovative thinking needed to continue Armour College’s tradition as an internationally recognized engineering school,” says President Anderson. “Her demonstrated success in maintaining excellent undergraduate programs while growing graduate and research studies, and her commitment to developing interdisciplinary opportunities, make her a perfect fit for IIT.”
As chair of biomedical engineering at RPI, DePaola led a targeted effort to grow the faculty body, diversify the undergraduate and graduate curricula, and expand research focus areas and funding. She developed a departmental vision, mission, and strategic plan, formed a new departmental advisory council, led the department through a successful ABET accreditation process, and created the BME Undergraduate Advising and Student Affairs Office. During her tenure, the department has seen a significant increase in student enrollment, has hired six tenured or tenure-track faculty members, and has strengthened its partnership with Albany Medical College, including the development of The Physician Engineer (PE) Program: an enriched program leading to the Bachelor in Engineering and MD degree designed to “train individuals committed to bring engineering science and technology research to the practice of medicine.”
"We are very excited to welcome Dr. DePaola to IIT," said Provost Cramb. "Her experience with strategic development will be invaluable to IIT and Armour as the university prepares to launch its new strategic plan this summer.” Cramb also extended praise to IIT College of Science and Letters Dean Russell Betts, who served as chair of the Armour dean search committee.
DePaola’s research investigates the role of physical mechanisms on cellular behavior emphasizing its importance in the understanding of human disease, the development of new therapies, and the engineering of functional tissues. A major emphasis of her research is on hemodynamic regulation of vascular cell function in early atherosclerosis, gap junctional intercellular communication, and biophysical regulation of mammalian cell function with applications to vascular and bone tissue engineering.
DePaola received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar in 1984, and a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1987. She completed her Ph.D. degree in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (1991) and Postdoctoral training at Columbia University (1992). DePaola received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER), is a Frontiers Alumna of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,300 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.
