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Drexel announces first female dean of engineering college

Sharon L. Walker, the first female dean of the college of engineering at Drexel, will begin her job Sept. 1.

Sharon L. Walker, who currently is interim dean of the engineering college at the University of California at Riverside, will become the first female dean of the college of engineering at Drexel.
Sharon L. Walker, who currently is interim dean of the engineering college at the University of California at Riverside, will become the first female dean of the college of engineering at Drexel.Read moreCourtesy of Drexel

For the first time, Drexel University has appointed a female dean to head its college of engineering.

Sharon L. Walker, a chemical and environmental engineer who has her graduate degrees from Yale and currently heads the engineering school at the University of California, Riverside, will begin her job at Drexel on Sept. 1. She replaces Giuseppe R. Palmese, who has been serving as interim dean.

"Dr. Walker's vision for Drexel includes reinvigorating the curriculum, recruiting more graduate students and providing faculty development that leverages best practices from her current and past engineering higher education leadership roles," said Drexel provost Brian M. Blake.

As an undergraduate, Walker studied at the University of Southern California, and she got her master's in chemical engineering and her doctorate in environmental engineering from Yale.