Phila U. adds new college, dean

Philadelphia University, which has its main campus in East Falls, will soon be home to a new College of Design, Engineering and Commerce.

 

Ronald G. Kander, director of the School of Engineering at James Madison University, will join the university full time in July in the new post of executive dean of the new college.

 

Kander previously worked at Virginia Tech, where he was director of the School of Engineering’s interdisciplinary green engineering program.

 

He says the new college, which will open in fall 2011, will focus on innovation and entrepreneurship in each of the three disciplines.

 

“This is happening at exactly a time when innovation is universally recognized as a critical element in our country’s current economic recovery and its future global competitiveness, as well as in solving today’s complex, world-scale human problems,”  Kander said in a statement.

 

The college will encourage students to focus on market-driven innovation through teamwork, collaboration and connections with industry partners.  Groundbreaking for the new school’s 39,000 square-foot building will begin this spring.  The facility will be located on the East Falls campus across from the Paul J. Gutman library. 

 

Philadelphia University currently serves 3,500 students in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus sits on Henry Avenue in East Falls.  The University also has a campus in Bucks County and a research center in Manayunk.