The search for a permanent dean will begin in the coming months.
Stephen Bayne has been named acting dean of Texas Tech University's Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, effective today (Aug. 15).
Bayne is a professor and department chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas Tech and has several years of experience in leadership and technical research. Before joining Texas Tech, he was chief of the directed energy branch at the Army Research Lab, where he managed three teams consisting of engineers, technicians and support staff.
In 2009, Bayne joined Texas Tech as an associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was promoted to full professor in 2015 and became associate chair for graduate studies. As associate chair, Bayne led the effort to recruit graduate students, managed the admissions process and led the graduate committee.
Bayne was named department chair in 2021, where he led a team of 28 faculty and instructors and was responsible for the recruitment and retention of undergraduate and graduate students. As a department chair, he managed the budget, conducted annual reviews for faculty and staff and was responsible for recruiting new faculty into the department. An active researcher in the department, Bayne brought in more than $32,691,998 ($11,541,066 credited) in research funding to Texas Tech and established a robust energy research program.
With more than 219 publications, a book and a book chapter to his credit, Bayne also has two U.S. patents. He has earned several research and teaching awards, most notably the Barnie E. Rushing, Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award STEM Disciplines; TTU Lockheed Martin Excellence in Engineering Teaching award; Army Greatest Invention Award; and the Army Research Lab Achievement Award for Engineering.
Bayne is an Air Force veteran who prioritizes outreach and inclusion of a diverse student population. He established the National GEM Consortium at Texas Tech, which works to increase the number of underrepresented groups that receive master's and doctoral degrees, and worked with the Army's Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) developing a summer program to mentor high school students.
Bayne replaces Al Sacco, Jr., who was dean of the College of Engineering for 11 years.
Before coming to Texas Tech, Sacco was the George A. Snell Distinguished Professor of Engineering and the director of the Center for Advancement Microgravity Materials Processing at Northeastern University. He also flew as the payload specialist on the space shuttle Columbia on shuttle mission STS-73 in 1995.
A search for a permanent dean will begin in the coming months.
