Tejal Desai ’94 will step down from her position as dean of engineering and depart the University on Dec. 31, according to a Thursday announcement.
Since Desai assumed her leadership position at Brown, the School of Engineering has more than doubled the number of engineering concentrators in the past three years and recruited a dozen new faculty members. The school has also seen a 23% increase in master’s student matriculation in the last two years and a 40% increase in research funding awards from 2022 to 2025.
Under her leadership, the school has begun a renovation to turn the Prince Lab into the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub. She has also overseen the launch of new programs such as the Initiative for Sustainable Energy, a new Master of Science in Sustainable Energy and an undergraduate concentration in design engineering.
Desai has published over 250 patents and peer-reviewed articles. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024 and named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2026.
Desai will be the founding executive director of the Institute of Innovation, Technology and Translation at Vanderbilt San Francisco, a new campus that Vanderbilt University intends to open in fall 2027. She will also be a tenured faculty member at Vanderbilt’s School of Engineering.
Desai, who graduated from Brown with a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering, has served as dean of the SOE since 2022, after serving as chair from 2014 to 2021 of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.
She currently serves as principal investigator for the Desai Lab for Therapeutic Micro and Nanotechnology, which focuses on developing novel mechanisms for medicine delivery and supporting self-healing processes in the body. The lab has received more than $4 million in research funds since her arrival as dean.
Provost Francis Doyle is currently considering candidates to serve as interim dean and anticipates an update on a new appointment in the coming weeks, according to the University news release.
Samah Hamid is a section editor covering faculty and career & alumni. She is from Sharon, Massachusetts and is concentrating in Biology and Middle Eastern Studies. In her free time, you can find her taking a nap, reading, or baking a sweet treat.
