Andrew L. Sears, who officially started on July 1, was named the fourth dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State. He succeeds David Hall, who returned to the faculty ranks in fall 2014.
“I’m excited to join Penn State and the College of Information Sciences and Technology,” said Sears, a native of Newtown, Massachusetts. “Given the pervasive nature of information technologies, the topics our faculty and students explore have the potential to change the way individuals work, communicate, socialize, and entertain themselves. The college’s efforts have the potential to change the way people live, and I am excited to be part of that process.”
Prior to joining IST, Sears served as dean of the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) since 2011.
During his tenure at RIT, Sears founded the first academic department in the United States dedicated exclusively to computing security and attended the recent White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection where President Barack Obama signed an executive order to promote information sharing about cyber threats.At RIT, he supported faculty efforts to revise existing programs and developed new degree programs and minors spanning a variety of topics, including human-centered computing, Web and mobile computing, computing and information technologies, data science, open source software development and computing security.Sears encouraged the creation of a new “computing explorations” program that allows newly admitted undergraduates the opportunity to learn about and transfer into the college’s various computing programs. He also initiated the revitalization of RIT’s Women in Computing program with the goal of increasing the representation of women in the college’s programs.Sears earned his bachelor of science degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1988 and his doctorate in computer science from the University of Maryland in 1993.