Lennon to become associate dean in 2006

Jerry Lennon, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been appointed associate dean for undergraduate studies of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, beginning in June 2006.
Lennon’s appointment was announced by S. David Wu, dean of the engineering college. He will succeed Rick Weisman, also a professor of civil and environmental engineering, who has served 11 years as associate dean for undergraduate studies.
Wu said that, in addition to advising undergraduates and overseeing recruitment of freshmen, Lennon will coordinate the engineering college’s preparation for the ABET visit scheduled in 2007.
The 2005-06 academic year, Wu said, will be a year of transition as Lennon works with Weisman to prepare for his new position. Lennon, who has served since 1998 as associate chair of the civil and environmental engineering department, will also work with his yet-to-be-named successor in that position.
Lennon joined the Lehigh faculty in 1980 after earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Drexel University, and master’s and doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University. He has published more than 70 papers in journals and conference proceedings, and he has received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Mellon Foundation and other agencies to study the modeling of transport of contaminants, groundwater flow and surface water flow.
Lennon and Weisman are co-authors of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ “Design Manual for Fluidization Systems.” Lennon also collaborated with Bobb Carson, professor emeritus of earth and environmental sciences, on an interdisciplinary NSF-funded project that included dives on the Alvin Submarine to investigate fluid expulsion from geothermal vents on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Lennon’s awards include the Lehigh Class of 1961 Professorship, the Lehigh Junior Award for Distinguished Teaching, and the Lindback Foundation Award. He has served on the faculty steering committee and was one of the first Harassment Policy Faculty Investigators. He directed the Environmental Studies Center from 1989 to 1991, and chaired the committee that designed and implemented the new B.S. in environmental engineering. He also led the development of the IBE curriculum for the civil engineering, structural engineering, and environmental engineering tracks.
--Kurt Pfitzer