PHOTO: Oregon State University Engineering Benny Beaver mascot decal (10 cents) was sold for ten cents circa 1975 for applying to a student's car window. It shows OSU Benny Beaver as an engineering student carrying a slide rule, (regularly used to do engineering calculations before the invention of calculators) and a T-square (used with a drafting board to draw engineering plans before the invention of computer aided design or CAD programs) and Benny also is carrying a case with other instruments used in engineering. (See previous posts Artist of OSU Benny Beaver engineer mascot decal used it for other schools (6/6/15), Slide rules, T-squares -- obsolete engineering tools (1/19/09), OSU Benny Beaver Engineering Decal (12/9/06) and HP 12c financial calculator history (6/21/06)
The official Oregon State University news release, "School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science names new head," oregonstate.edu posted Aug. 3, 2015 says, "V. John Mathews, an expert in biomedical signal and information processing with a track record for growing research funding and student enrollment, has been selected as the new head of the Oregon State University School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). Mathews comes to Oregon State after 30 years with the University of Utah, where he has been a professor since 1995 and served as chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for four years."
START UPDATE Aug. 12, 2015: some background on he soap opera from the student newspaper:
- Lindsay Free, "EECS names new head," OSU Barometer, Aug. 12, 2015, p. 1, 2 (Note that the student paper's story was a week later than the professional newspaper quoted below)
- Sean Bassinger, "Turmoil threatens stability of EECS," dailybarometer.com posted Oct. 28, 2013 - it seems that that a new engineering dean decided to terminate a long-time EECS department head, who was popular with both students and industry donors, but it blew up in her face, which caused the University President and Provosts to fire the engineering dean, while leaving the decision to let the tenured EE professor remain in the department, but not as the department head.
- "Editorial - Fiez, Woods, Randhawa won't talk; we want to know why," dailybarometer.com posted Oct. 29, 2013
- Sean Bassinger, "Provost, dean's decision remains final," dailybarometer.com posted Nov. 14. 2013
END UPDATE Aug. 12, 2015
The local independent newspaper report gave the soap opera story in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University:
Oregon State University has hired V. John Mathews as the head of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, filling a position that has been vacant since the controversial ouster of Terri Fiez nearly a year and a half ago. . . .
Fiez had led the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science since coming to Oregon State in 1999. But controversy erupted in 2013 after Sandra Woods, who had taken over as dean of the College of Engineering the previous year, tried to force Fiez out. Faculty members and Oregon tech industry leaders protested, but OSU stood by its decision. Early last year, both Fiez and Woods were dismissed.
Fiez has since been hired as vice chancellor for research by the University of Colorado.
Steve Clark, OSU's vice president for marketing and university development, said the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science has put the episode behind it.
"The school has been on very stable and strong ground for the last year or more," Clark said on Monday.
"I think our private sector partners have moved forward," he added. "Our new dean of the College of Engineering, Scott Ashford, has strong and positive leadership that is respected by our private industry partners."
(Quoted from Bennett Hall, "OSU fills top EECS post," Gazette-Times, posted Aug. 4, 2015)
This classic department catfight between professors had to be cleaned up by Scott Ashford Dean of Engineering at Oregon State University after he became the Dean, which also required him to hire his replacement to head the OSU Civil Engineering School, Jason Weiss, who came from Purdue University, a major research university located in Lafayette, Indiana. (See "Purdue professor to head OSU Civil Engineering School," gazettetimes.com posted Jul. 30, 2015 and Scott A. Ashford Dean, College of Engineering / Professor Oregon State University M.S. and Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley B.S., Civil Engineering, Oregon State University)
The "Terri Fiez Profile" oregonstate.edu accessed Aug. 1, 2015 said, ". . . back to OSU when she had the opportunity to become the head of Electrical and Computer Engineering which later merged with computer science to become the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)."
Some unrelated news: James Day, "OSU gift endows humanitarian engineering professor," gazettetimes.com posted Jul. 23, 2015 says, "Oregon State University has received a $1.5 million donation that will allow the university to endow a professorship in humanitarian engineering."
Some links to OSU engineering schools:
- College of Engineering at Oregon State University includes the following schools:
- OSU Biological and Ecological Engineering
- OSU Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering
- OSU Civil and Construction Engineering
- OSU Electrical Engineering and Computer Science -- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Meet Our Faculty has approximately 50 professors equally divided between EE and CS disciplines.
- OSU Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- OSU Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics
