Dear colleagues:
I write to share the bittersweet news that Bill Sanders, the inaugural interim director of our Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), will be leaving the University of Illinois System to become dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, effective Jan. 1.
It is truly an honor and an opportunity too good to pass up – a chance to lead an engineering college ranked in the nation’s top 10 at a world-renowned university. Roberta and I wish the very best for Bill and his family as they turn the page to this exciting new chapter in their lives.
Bill has done a masterful job the last 13 months positioning DPI for success, and here are just a few of his many accomplishments:
- Leading development of the operations and business plan for DPI, along with a study that will gauge projected economic impact
- Partnering with 11 top Illinois and international universities and several industry groups
- Connecting DPI with the statewide Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) and its 15 hubs, including all of the state’s public universities
- Helping advocate successfully for $500 million in state capital funds for development of DPI and IIN, as well as helping to raise matching funds
- Stewarding the process for designation of DPI as a temporary institute by the state Board of Higher Education
- Building an experienced and accomplished leadership team
- Engaging more than 1,000 faculty, staff and students with DPI through workshops and seed grant programs
Bill was an award-winning educator and researcher and a proven leader on the Urbana-Champaign campus before taking the helm of DPI in August 2018. He served for 25 years on the Urbana faculty, including 15 years in academic leadership positions. Before being named to lead DPI, he served for five years as head of Urbana’s nationally ranked Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The Herman M. Dieckamp Endowed Chair in Engineering in Urbana, he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Bill will leave the U of I System effective Dec. 31, and I am in the process of identifying potential new interim directors to fill the position. I expect to make a recommendation soon, providing ample time for an overlap to ensure a seamless transition in DPI leadership.
I hope you will join me in congratulating Bill on this wonderful new opportunity, and thanking him for laying the groundwork for DPI. He has put the pioneering new institute well on its way toward its ambitious goals – solving grand challenges, retaining and attracting talent and driving new waves of economic vitality for Illinois and the Midwest.
Tim