Lola Eniola-Adefeso named College of Engineering dean

Dear faculty, staff and students,

I am pleased to announce that following a national search, Omolola "Lola" Eniola-Adefeso, PhD, has been named dean of the University of Illinois Chicago College of Engineering, effective Oct. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Professor Eniola-Adefeso is a highly respected chemical and biomedical engineer with over 25 years of professional experience. An accomplished scholar, she has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and secured millions of dollars in federal research funding. Eniola-Adefeso has a strong track record of adopting an interdisciplinary approach to her work, and her entrepreneurial successes have resulted in three patent filings, with one patent currently being licensed to a biotech company. She also is highly recognized in the scientific community, as demonstrated by numerous national awards and her current leadership positions as the president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and director of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She also participates on the National Academies Study Committee: Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

She serves as a professor of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and macromolecular science and engineering at the University of Michigan, where she has taught since 2006. She also holds the Vennema Endowed Professorship and was named a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor. A Meyerhoff Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Eniola-Adefeso received her PhD in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and currently serves as the associate dean for graduate and professional education at the University of Michigan College of Engineering.

Eniola-Adefeso is also committed to UIC's efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion. Throughout her career, she has championed efforts to bring greater diversity to the field of engineering. This is demonstrated through her leadership of the multi-institutional NextProf engineering program, directed at increasing the number of PhD students and postdocs from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering who are transitioning into academic careers. She also co-founded BME Women Faculty UNITE and helped plan and lead an inaugural summit of engineering deans from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Big 10+ engineering institutions held in June 2024, entitled Forging Futures Together by Strengthening Collaborations.

The appointment of Eniola-Adefeso as the next dean of the UIC College of Engineering will be transformative for the college, our university and the University of Illinois System. I have every confidence that she will lead the College of Engineering to new levels of excellence by providing high-impact opportunities to our students and by enhancing cross-disciplinary work within UIC, between the U of I System universities and with local research and business partners.

I would like to thank the search committee, chaired by Mark Rosenblatt, executive dean of the College of Medicine, as well as the search firm Opus Partners for their dedicated work throughout the entire search process.

Eniola-Adefeso will succeed Dean Peter Nelson, who has led this outstanding college since 2007 and will return to the faculty this year.

Please join me in congratulating Eniola-Adefeso and welcoming her as the new dean of the College of Engineering.

Sincerely,

Karen J. Colley
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

For more information, please contact:
Office of the Provost
[email protected]

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