On August 1, Dr. Stella Batalama will join the FAU family as dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. She comes to us from the University of Buffalo – SUNY, where she served as chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering since 2011. She joined the faculty at UB in 2001 and also served as associate dean for research of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Batalama was the acting director of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Center for Integrated Transmission and Exploitation in Rome, N.Y. from 2003 to 2004.

Dr. Batalama received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia. Her research has focused on various design aspects of wireless communication systems and networks including CDMA cellular communications, cognitive and collaborative networks, underwater communications, multimedia security and data hiding. She has published more than 170 technical papers and was an investigator in federally sponsored research in excess of $10 million.

As a female leader in a historically male-dominated field of study, Dr. Batalama brings to the position of dean a wealth of strengths, experience and knowledge, as well as a clear vision for the college. I am delighted to welcome her to FAU and look forward to her leadership of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.