Mary Croughan, provost and executive vice chancellor, announced the appointment of engineering professor Jeffrey Gibeling to serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering effective Jan. 1.

Gibeling will step in as Jennifer Sinclair Curtis steps down — a decision she announced in June — after a five-year term as dean. She plans a sabbatical followed by teaching and research in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

“Jeff evinced a deep knowledge of and commitment to the College of Engineering, and I am confident that his wisdom and experience will prove invaluable in supporting the college’s teaching, research and service mission during this period of leadership transition,” Croughan said. “We are pleased he accepted this role.”

Gibeling joined the engineering faculty as an assistant professor in 1984 and became a full professor in 1995. He was faculty chair in the College of Engineering in 1989-90 and 1998-99.

He served on the Graduate Council from 1991 to 1996 (including a year and a quarter as the chair) and as executive associate dean of Graduate Studies from 1996 to 1998.

After serving three years as chair of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate, 1999-2002, he was appointed vice provost and dean of Graduate Studies, serving from 2002 until 2016 when he decided to step down.

He returned to the faculty and served as chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering from 2016 to 2020.

The national search for a permanent dean of the college is just getting underway with the goal of identifying a new dean to arrive during the summer of 2021.

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