Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2006

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
713.743.8186 (office)
713.415.6551 (pager)
pemery@uh.edu

HOUSTON, May 25, 2006 – William Fitzgibbon, professor of mathematics, has been named the dean of the University of Houston’s College of Technology.

The appointment was announced by Donald J. Foss, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, during the UH System Board of Regents Meeting May 18.

“William Fitzgibbon is a natural fit to lead this college in its many endeavors,” Foss said. “His administrative abilities and his commitment to research and academics are commendable. Likewise, his vision for the college is one that will promote constant growth in this age of emerging technologies and industries.”

Fitzgibbon’s academic areas of expertise are applied mathematics with specialization in mathematical biology and ecology, reactive flow, nonlinear partial differential equations and integro-differential equations. He has authored or co-authored more than 120 research papers in addition to numerous articles, reviews and reports.

Fitzgibbon has served as the College of Technology’s interim dean since August 2003 and has overseen the college’s recent forays into new academic areas, including the creation of the Abramson Family Center for the Future of Health, one of UH’s initial collaborations with The Methodist Hospital. Fitzgibbon also was instrumental in the development of the college’s new Center for Life Sciences Technology that focuses on workforce education and training programs to support the regional life sciences research and the biotechnology industry.

“I am grateful to work with faculty, staff and students to make the College of Technology a continued source of pride for the university and the community,” Fitzgibbon said.

Fitzgibbon began teaching at UH in 1972. From 1999 – 2000, he served as chair of UH’s Department of Mathematics. He also has served as president of UH’s Faculty Senate and as a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Bordeaux I and II in France. He also has held a research position at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

Fitzgibbon received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and doctorate in mathematics from Vanderbilt University.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

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