ITHACA, N.Y. -- W. Kent Fuchs, head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Michael J. and Catherine R. Birck Distinguished Professor at Purdue University, has been named the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University.

The appointment will be submitted for approval by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees at its next meeting in April.

Fuchs, who has been a student of divinity as well as electrical engineering, succeeds interim dean Harold Craighead, the Charles W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering and professor of applied and engineering physics. Craighead assumed the interim post in July 2001, succeeding Dean John Hopcroft.

Making the announcement, Cornell Provost Biddy Martin said that she and Cornell President Hunter Rawlings were "delighted that Kent Fuchs has agreed to lead our College of Engineering." She continued: "Professor Fuchs has considerable administrative experience, and he brings foresight, thoughtfulness and an impressive ability to communicate with a range of audiences to this important position. He will have the support of outstanding faculty, staff and students in the college and will play a crucial role in the development of the university's cross-college scientific initiatives."

Said Rawlings: "I am delighted that Kent Fuchs will be the new dean of our College of Engineering. He has the strong support of the faculty of the college and of Provost Martin and myself. I greatly look forward to his arrival this summer. Cornell's College of Engineering has been a pillar of strength for this university since its inception. The appointment of Kent Fuchs to lead the college's world-class faculty will ensure the college's continuing leadership in research and instruction well into the 21st century." Fuchs, who is a specialist in dependable computing, testing and failure diagnosis, will serve a five-year, renewable term beginning July 1, 2002. Commenting on his appointment, he said: "It is a great honor to lead one of the world's finest colleges of engineering. I look forward to serving the Cornell faculty, students and alumni with dedication, energy and enthusiasm."

Cornell's College of Engineering, perennially ranked among the top 10 engineering schools in the nation, is both a teaching and a research college, with a research budget last year of more than $60 million. Research being targeted by the college includes advanced materials, information technology and biomedical engineering, and a state-of-the-art, $58.5 million nanofabrication facility called Duffield Hall is under construction. The college has about 2,800 undergraduates, more than 1,100 graduate students and 208 faculty members.

Prior to being named head of Purdue's electrical and computer engineering school in 1996, Fuchs was a professor at the University of Illinois in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined the University of Illinois faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor. He was named a full professor in 1993.

The new Cornell engineering dean, who is 47, obtained his bachelor of science engineering degree at Duke University in 1977, his master of science degree at the University of Illinois in 1982, his master of divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1984 and his doctorate in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois in 1985.

Fuchs' current research interests include dependable computing, testing and failure diagnosis. He leads two research groups at Purdue: computer-aided design tools for testing and failure analysis in integrated circuits; and dependable mobile computing, active networks and high-performance computing.

His research awards include, from the University of Illinois, the Senior Xerox Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, selection as a University Scholar, appointment as fellow in the Center for Advanced Studies and the Xerox Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. He also has received the Best Paper Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Design Automation Conference; and the Best Paper Award from the IEEE VLSI (very large scale integration) Test Symposium. He is a fellow of both the IEEE and the ACM.

Fuchs has been a guest editor of special issues for IEEE Transactions on Computers and IEEE'sComputer . He has been a member of the editorial board for the IEEE Transactions on Computers , IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and the Journal of Electronic Testing: Theory and Application . Among his many recent professional society activities, he was a member of the board of governors of the National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association, 2000-2002; member of the IEEE Fellow selection committee, 1998-2002; and chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Fault-Tolerant Computing in 2000.