University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., has appointed Gregory Crawford as dean of the College of Science and a professor of Physics, effective July 1. Currently, Crawford is dean of engineering and a professor of physics and engineering at Brown University.
“Greg Crawford brings unbounded energy, fresh ideas and an entrepreneurial spirit to the College of Science,” Father Jenkins said. “He is drawn to the distinctive mission of Notre Dame — the pursuit of truth in the Catholic intellectual tradition and the promotion of science in the service of humanity. I am delighted to welcome him.”
Before joining the Brown faculty in 1996, Crawford was a member of the research staff at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and a postdoctoral research associate at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He has served as dean of engineering at Brown since 2006.
Crawford accomplishments are extensive: He has more than 200 basic and applied research publications, review articles and book chapters, he holds 15 U.S. patents, and he is a fellow of the Society for Information Display.
An award-winning teacher, Crawford has developed innovative courses to help undergraduates and graduate students think entrepreneurially about transferring knowledge and technical capabilities into applications that impact society. His teaching interests include electricity and magnetism, optics, soft condensed matter physics, and science-based and high-technology entrepreneurship at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He also has been involved in a variety of science outreach activities that benefit the Providence City Schools, Boys and Girls Club, Rhode Island School for the Deaf, Rhode Island Training School for incarcerated children, and the Providence Bridge School for youths at risk.
Crawford earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics, a master’s degree in physics, and a doctorate in chemical physics at Kent State University. He and his wife, Renate, have two daughters, ages 9 and 13.
