The UCLA Samueli School of Engineering is proud to welcome three new faculty members to its growing roster of nearly 200 full-time professors. The recruitment is part of the school’s Mentor Professor Program, a new initiative designed to hire faculty with a demonstrated record of, or who show exceptional promise for, mentorship of students from underrepresented and underserved populations.
Building upon the school’s commitment to foster a more inclusive and equitable environment, and to promote the success of underrepresented students, UCLA Samueli invited applications for multiple open-rank, tenure-track faculty positions in one or more of its seven departments and computational medicine, an affiliated department with both UCLA Engineering and the David Geffen School of Medicine.
“As a leading public university serving a diverse population, UCLA Engineering has proactively looked at ways in which we can make our community more inclusive,” said Jayathi Murthy.
“As a leading public university serving a diverse population, UCLA Engineering has proactively looked at ways in which we can make our community more inclusive,” said Jayathi Murthy, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of UCLA Samueli. “I’ve had meaningful conversations with our students and school leadership on how to support our students better. In hiring faculty, we have determined that, in addition to candidates’ research and teaching expertise, we must also take into consideration their track record of mentorship of students traditionally underrepresented and underserved in engineering and computer science.”
Scott Brandenberg, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the school’s former inaugural associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, was charged with heading the multidepartment searches. “The department search committees did a great job getting the word out about these searches, and we received applications from an excellent pool of candidates,” Brandenberg said.
UCLA Samueli has identified and successfully recruited three faculty members: Sergio Carbajo, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, who specializes in ultrafast photon and particle sources; Regan Patterson, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, whose research combines sustainability, transportation and social equity; and Thaiesha Wright, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who specializes in the applications of polymer chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics in medicine.
“I am delighted that these stellar scholars, who already have accomplished so much in their young careers, will be joining the school,” Murthy said. “At UCLA Samueli, they will push the boundaries of knowledge in their respective specialties while serving as mentors and role models for our students.”
Following are highlights of the three new faculty members.
