USF's College of Engineering has a new dean. Provost Renu Khator on Wednesday announced that John Wiencek, currently chair of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the University of Iowa, will take the post July 1.

At Iowa, a member of the prestigious 67-member invitation-only Association of American Universities, Wiencek attracted over $7.5 million in research. 

“I am convinced that he has the vision, passion and intelligence to lead our College of Engineering to be among the top tier in the nation," said Khator, whose husband is an engineering professor at USF.

Wiencek is a University of Cincinnati graduate who got his master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.  He joined Rutgers University as assistant professor in 1989, earned tenure and moved to the University of Iowa in 1995.  He was appointed chair in 2003.

Interim engineering dean Sunil Saigal is leaving to become dean at the New Jersey Institute of Technology's engineering college.

-Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler, higher education reporter