University of Rochester names Dean of Graduate Education and Post-Doctoral Affairs

University of Rochester professor Nick Vamivakas has been named Dean of Graduate Education and Post-Doctoral Affairs.

The professor, from the Institute of Optics, will assume the role for Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (AS&E). Vamivakas will assume his new position August 1 and succeeds Melissa Sturge-Apple, who now holds the position of vice provost and university dean of graduate education.

Vamivakas will give grad students and post-docs the support and guidance they need, and develop AS&E’s graduate education initiatives.

“Nick is a strong mentor of graduate students and a stellar researcher, and I look forward to working with him on continuing to develop AS&E’s graduate programs,” said Donald Hall, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences and Engineering. “He is poised to build on the strong foundation of work done by Melissa Sturge-Apple and has a wonderful team of staff members to assist him.”

Vamivakas became part of the Institute of Optics in 2011, and has since been the recipient of multiple awards and grants. He has received UR’s G. Graydon ’58 and Jane W. G. Graydon ’58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Nontenured Faculty Teaching Excellence, the Edmund A. Hajim Outstanding Faculty Award from the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Mandel Faculty Fellow Award. He is also a recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the positive experiences Arts, Science and Engineering graduate students and postdoctoral research associates have while at the University of Rochester,” Vamivakas said. “Building on the great work of Dean Sturge-Apple, I hope to find new mechanisms to support graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and develop recruitment strategies to continue to attract excellent students to the University.”

Vamivakas studied electrical engineering at Boston University, where he received his Ph.D. in 2008. After achieving his Ph.D., he went on to be a postdoc in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.