RONALD L. ELSENBAUMER
As an accomplished educator and researcher, Dr. Ronald L. Elsenbaumer has more than 38 years of wide-rangingleadership experience that spans both academia and the private sector. Dr. Elsenbaumer currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, as well as Interim Dean for the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs (CAPPA)at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Previously he held the positions of Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Vice President for Research and Federal Relationsat the institution.
Dr. Elsenbaumer has played a significant role in strengthening the University’s academic and research profile. Under his leadership, he oversaw significant advancements in student success, overall enrollments, degree production at all levels, research expenditures, and helped secure more than $18 million in gifts and donations to enhance academic programs and create endowed faculty positions. He helped secure institutional designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and the elevation in Carnegie Classification from R2 to R1, Doctoral University/Highest Research Activity (February 2016). He has been a champion for UTA in North Texas, Austin, Washington, DC and beyond.
Dr. Elsenbaumer joined the University of Texas at Arlington in 1991 as its founding director and chairman of the materials science and engineering (MSE) program, and since then, steadily assumed increasing levels of responsibility. This includes, concurrently with the chair position in MSE, assuming the chair position of the department of chemistry and biochemistry in the college of science, as well as in 2002 assuming the directorship of the Nanofabrication Research and Teaching Facility. In 2004 he became the vice president for research and then in 2007 interim provost, in 2008 vice president for research and federal relations, and in 2011 provost and vice president for academic affairs. In January 2016, he assumed the position of Senior Advisor to the President for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, and then in September 2016 he also re-assumed the position of interim provost while a national search progressed. In addition, he continues to be engaged in institutional reaccreditation scheduled for December 2017, and to advise the president on tenure and promotion decisions.
Prior to joining UTA, Dr. Elsenbaumer held various positions in corporate research and management at Allied-Signal, Inc., a multinational corporation with headquarters in Morristown, NJ. Having made important laboratory discoveries and developed them into a commercial product, he had the privilege of being promoted from a laboratory scientist to a group leader, and later to an efficient project manager,effectively bridging multiple teams (in different geographical locations) for a successful product development and launch.
Dr. Elsenbaumer holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. He has authored or co-authored more than 110 publications, has more than 35 US patents, and has secured more than $10 million in external research funding.
He holds an appointment as a tenured full professor in the department of chemistry and biochemistry in the college of science, and a position as professor of materials science and engineering in the college of engineering. He successfully graduated masters and doctoral students, mentored undergraduate and high school students, and published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. He has also lectured at numerous conferences and universities around the world.He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Beta Kappa, and was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2013.