Today in UF history: The College of Engineering has its first woman dean.

UF provost Joe Glover just announced that Cammy Abernathy, the engineering college's associate dean for academic affairs, will start as UF's sixth dean of engineering on July 17, next Friday.

Abernathy takes over for outgoing Dean Pramod Khargonekar.

"Cammy brings vast experience and knowledge to the table," Glover said. "The fact that she will make history by becoming UF's first woman engineering dean makes her selection all the more exciting."

Abernathy, who specializes in the fabrication of semiconductor materials and devices, joined UF as a professor of materials science and engineering in 1993. She arrived at UF from AT&T's Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., where she served as a member of the technical staff between 1985 and 1993. She worked as a research assistant in Stanford University's department of materials science and engineering between 1981 and 1985.

She received her doctorate and master's degrees in materials science and engineering from Stanford in 1982 and 1985, respectively. She received her bachelor of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in materials science and engineering in 1980.