Veerle Keppens, Chancellor’s Professor and head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the Tickle College of Engineering, has agreed to serve as the vice provost for faculty affairs.
A native of Belgium, Keppens earned both bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, just east of Brussels. Since arriving at UT in 2003, she has served in various leadership positions. From 2012-2016, she served as the associate dean for faculty affairs in the Tickle College of Engineering, where she oversaw processes related to faculty search, hiring, promotion, and tenure. She played a critical role in onboarding and supporting new faculty. She was also instrumental in creating and implementing a college-wide peer review of teaching.
Since 2015, Keppens has been head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, where she has helped recruit and hire tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty. She successfully developed and executed a cluster hire in quantum materials, in collaboration with the Department of Physics and the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Keppens also helped develop and implement MSE’s strategic plan, prepared the department for its program reviews, initiated student mentoring programs, and assembled the MSE Advisory Board to provide input and feedback for program improvement.
Dr. Keppens’ appointment will begin July 1.
Thank you to the search committee chair Dixie Thompson and search committee members Derek Alderman, Lars Dzikus, Bonnie Ownley, Virginia Stormer, and Alex Zablah.