Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State electrical engineering professor now is associate dean for research and graduate studies at the university's Bagley College of Engineering.
Lori Mann Bruce recently was promoted after having served as associate director of MSU's Geosystems Research Institute.
As associate dean, Bruce will focus on student recruitment, strategic management of distance education and research funding, among other areas. The University of Alabama in Huntsville doctoral graduate replaces Roger King, now director of the college's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems.
Bruce's academic career developed from a love for teaching--something she will miss. "It will be hard to leave the classroom behind but I also love working with graduate students and managing research," she said, adding, "This position is both challenging and exciting."
Since assuming her new administrative duties, Bruce has formed the Bagley Research Advisory Group and a distance education task force. Involving both teaching and research faculty, the groups provide feedback and ideas for planning the college's future direction.
One of the land-grant institution's two oldest academic programs, the engineering college has $50 million annually in research expenditures. It also currently has some 20 percent of more than 500 graduate students taking classes via distance-learning technology.
Bruce also holds a bachelor's degree from UAH and a master's from the Georgia Institute of Technology, also in electrical engineering. She is an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and several other major professional organizations.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Bruce at 662-325-2270 or bruce@bagley.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.