From left: student Ryan Kuo, Janelle Grimes, Oski Bear, Michael Grimes, Chancellor Rich Lyons, Eugene Jarvis, Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu, architect Michael Duncan, construction VP Craig Ellis, and student Vivian Chung cut a ribbon during the Grimes Engineering Center opening celebration on April 21, 2025. (Photo by Adam Lau/Berkeley Engineering)Transforming engineering
This spring evokes reflection and anticipation in me as I prepare to step down as dean of the best public engineering school in the country. My primary goal as dean has been to drive cultural transformation in engineering, to make it more welcoming and inclusive so that every individual can thrive, allowing us to maximize our collective potential for positive change. As a community, we’ve made steady progress toward this goal, and I am optimistic that we’ll continue to do so.
In April, we celebrated the opening of the Grimes Engineering Center, a building that embodies this cultural change. The glass-encased Jarvis Event Pavilion is spacious and transparent, drawing people in to discover, learn, collaborate and innovate together. I encourage you to read more about our exciting new building complex in this issue.
Raising awareness of and appreciation for engineering is more important than ever.
Berkeley Engineering’s programs are continually evolving to meet the needs of our time. Two new baccalaureate programs will be open for enrollment in fall 2025. Our new major in electrical and computer engineering will prepare students to contribute to the revitalization of U.S. leadership in semiconductor R&D and advanced manufacturing, which are foundational to technological advancements in AI hardware, robotics, clean energy and smart infrastructure systems.
Another new baccalaureate program, the environmental engineering major, will prepare students for the challenges of sustainability and resiliency, empowering them to innovate equitable solutions for mitigation and adaptation. These new programs, in addition to the aerospace engineering major that was launched in 2022, give students more options for focused study than previously available.
On July 1, I’ll be taking on a new role as president of the National Academy of Engineering, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the welfare and prosperity of the United States by advising the nation’s leaders and bolstering the engineering profession. This transition comes at a moment when raising awareness of and appreciation for engineering is more important than ever.
I have seen the transformative power of higher education to prepare future engineering innovators and leaders to be effective agents for positive change. I’ve also seen how fundamental and applied research conducted at universities spawn new technologies and industries, with transformative impact on people and society.
University research drives innovation that is critical for long-term economic competitiveness and national security. Many of the discoveries and innovations made in university labs would not have been possible without public support via federal government funding.
It has been a privilege and honor for me to serve as dean, to work with and learn from a diversity of talented and motivated faculty, staff and student colleagues, as well as alumni, parents and friends of Berkeley Engineering. I am grateful for all the learning experiences and enlightened perspectives that I’ve gained from my time at Berkeley. They will light the way for my journey ahead, to ensure a better future shaped by engineers for the benefit of humanity.
Fiat Lux — and Go Bears!
—Tsu-Jae King Liu
Dean and Roy W. Carlson Professor of Engineering