Steven L. Ceccio has been appointed interim dean of the University of Michigan College of Engineering, effective June 1.
Ceccio, a professor of mechanical engineering and of naval architecture and marine engineering, currently serves as CoE’s associate dean for academic affairs. He succeeds Alec Gallimore, who is stepping down to become Duke University’s next provost.
His appointment was authorized by Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, and will be reported to the Board of Regents at its May 18 meeting.
“I am pleased that Professor Ceccio has agreed to serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering,” McCauley said. “His extensive knowledge of the college and keen administrative experience bode well for the ongoing positive momentum of engineering under his interim leadership.”
After serving as a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology, Ceccio joined the U-M faculty in 1990 as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. He was promoted to associate professor in 1996 and to professor in 2003.
Ceccio held appointments as chair of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from 2012-16 and as the ABS Professor of Marine and Offshore Design Performance from 2015-17.
From 2004-09, he was associate vice president for research in the Office of the Vice President for Research and was director of the Naval Engineering Education Center from 2010-15.
In 2017, he was appointed the Vincent T. and Gloria M. Gorguze Professor of Engineering. Ceccio also has been associate dean for research.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the interim dean of engineering, and I look forward to helping our students, staff and faculty build on the accomplishments we have achieved together under the leadership of Dean Gallimore,” Ceccio said.
Ceccio’s research focuses on the fluid mechanics of multiphase flows and high Reynolds number flows, including flow in propulsors and turbomachinery, cavitating flows, vortical flows, friction drag reduction, the dynamics of liquid-gas, gas-solid, and three-phase disperse flows, and the development of flow diagnostics.
He has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Fluids Engineering and has acted as a consultant to government and industry.
Ceccio is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and of the American Physical Society. He was named the 2014 Freeman Scholar by ASME, and he was awarded the 2021 ASME Fluids Engineering Award.
Ceccio earned his Bachelor of Science degree from U-M and his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from the California Institute of Technology, all in mechanical engineering.
