Dr. Mariesa Crow, the transition dean of the University of Missouri-Rolla School of Materials, Energy and Earth Resources (SoMEER) since October 2003, was named dean of the school effective Jan. 1.

Dean Mariesa Crow, UMR School of Materials, Energy and Earth Resources

"Over the past 15 months, Dr. Crow has been an outstanding leader as transition dean for the School of Materials, Energy and Earth Resources," says UMR Provost Y.T. Shah. "She has championed the school’s innovative, interdisciplinary approach, and I have complete confidence that she will continue to do so while preserving the traditions and strengths of the former School of Mines and Metallurgy."

UMR’s SoMEER was created Oct. 1, 2003, through a reorganization of the UMR School of Mines and Metallurgy. During that time, the school’s six academic departments were collapsed into three, more interdisciplinary departments. Crow was then named transition dean for the new school. She succeeded Dr. Lee W. Saperstein, dean of the former School of Mines and Metallurgy for 10 years.

Crow was named dean following a nationwide search that resulted in four final candidates.

A member of the UMR faculty since 1991, Crow is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the UMR School of Engineering. She is known in the research community for her work in the applications of energy storage, including batteries, superconducting magnetic energy storage, and supercapacitors into the bulk power transmission system.

Prior to her October 2003 appointment as transition dean, Crow served as the School of Engineering’s associate dean of research and graduate affairs.

Crow has received several teaching and faculty excellence awards from UMR, and also received the National Science Foundation’s Research Initiation Award in 1991 and Young Investigator Award in 1992. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and is active in several IEEE committees and working groups. She also is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education. In 1997, she received the IEEE Power Engineering Society Outstanding Young Engineer Award and the ASEE Outstanding New Faculty Award. In 2000, she received the IEEE Third Millennium Medal.

Crow holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.