UTSA Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy today announced the appointment of Professor Eric Brey as interim dean of the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design (Klesse College), effective June 1, while a national search for a permanent dean is conducted. Brey is the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. Endowed Chair in Mechanics and serves as chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering.
“Dr. Brey is an experienced, accomplished leader, having served as department chair and a member of the Dean’s leadership team for six years. He also was deeply involved in the planning and launch of the college in 2021 that reimagined how we prepare students in the fields of engineering, architecture, construction science, urban planning, interior design and historic preservation,” Espy said. “After reviewing nominations from Klesse College faculty and staff and consulting with the college’s leadership team, Eric was selected as someone who is well-positioned to advance the college’s strategic vision during this transition period. I am grateful for his serving in this capacity as we prepare to search for the next Klesse College dean.”
She added, “This summer, I will appoint a search advisory committee with the expectation that our national search will be fully underway at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.”
Brey joined UTSA in 2017 as professor and department chair after working for 13 years at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Brey received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Rice University and was a NIH post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center. In addition to his teaching and administrative roles, Brey is co-director of the UTSA Institute for Regenerative Medicine and directs research focused on the fields of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials.
Brey will not be a candidate for the permanent dean position; he will resume his role as department chair following the installation of the new dean. Associate professor Nehal Abu-Lail will serve as acting department chair.
