Fatma Mili

Fatma Mili the Dean of the College of Computing and Informatics at UNC Charlotte. She joined UNC Charlotte in August 2017 from Purdue University where she served respectively as Department Head of Computer Information Technology, then Associate Dean for Educational Research and Development, then as Executive Director of the TransSTEM Center. Prior to joining Purdue she was in the faculty of the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Oakland University where she held the positions of Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and acting Associate Dean in the School of Engineering. She obtained her doctorate in Computer Science from the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France, 1984. Over her career, her research interests weaved around three main themes: (i) The formulation of mathematical laws underlying programming constructs and their use in the semi-automatic construction of programs. This work was funded by NSF and published in books and journal papers. (ii) Understanding, supporting, and controlling individual, group, and collective decision making processes. This work was supported by the state of Michigan, Daimler Chrysler, and other industries. (iii) STEM education, the relevance and impact of our curricula and research agendas, the currency of our pedagogies, and our responsiveness to the growing and changing demographics we serve. In the last decade as she held various administrative positions, her scholarship and leadership efforts have become more concentrated on the third theme of higher education, its propensity for constancy in the face to accelerating changes, and its essential role as a transformative force in society. At Purdue University she initiated and led two major projects with transformative impact. In 2013, the strategic planning for her department evolved into a college-wide educational research institute: the Purdue Polytechnic Institute. The Institute was approved and funded by the University President as one of Purdue Big Moves. Its outcomes include a newly created transdisciplinary competency based bachelor degree fully accredited in 2016, and the renaming of the College of Technology as the Purdue Polytechnic to reflect the transformational innovations that were adopted and are being implemented. In January 2015 she founded the transSTEM center to promote and support trans-institutional collaboration in systemic change in STEM higher education.