Edwin L. "Ned" Thomas named Dean Engineering at Rice University

Edwin L. "Ned" Thomas has been appointed the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. Thomas was formerly head of the country's number-one ranked Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Thomas is a materials scientist and mechanical engineer and is passionate about promoting engineering leadership and student design competitions. His research is currently focused on using 2D and 3D lithography, direct write and self assembly techniques to create metamaterials with unprecedented mechanical and thermal properties. 

Thomas holds join appointments with the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering and collaborates with scientists and engineers in the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. 

Thomas received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University.  He is the author of nearly 400 journal articles and of the textbook, The Structure of Materials.  He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2009.  His is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.