Gilligan appointed executive associate dean of engineering

Dr. John Gilligan, professor of nuclear engineering in the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, has been appointed to the newly created position of executive associate dean of engineering. Gilligan began his position July 1.

As chief operating officer for the College, he will be primarily responsible for the College’s Office of Research and Graduate Programs, which includes overseeing the Office of Research Administration; the College’s research labs, centers and infrastructure support; and Engineering Online. Gilligan will also be involved in strategic planning and space allocation and renovation, among other duties. The College has nearly 3,000 graduate students and externally awarded research support of more than $75 million per year.

Gilligan served as vice chancellor for research and graduate programs at NC State from 2002 to 2008.  He has also previously served in the College as interim dean, associate dean for research and graduate programs and associate dean for academic affairs.  He has served as senior advisor to the dean since January.

As professor of nuclear engineering, Gilligan has led a number of major US Department of Energy (DOE) programs and initiatives, including his current role as director of the US DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program’s Integration Office at the Idaho National Laboratory and former role as chair of the Education Council of the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), a DOE nuclear modeling and simulation hub.  His many contributions to his field are highly regarded both nationally and internationally.  He has more than 110 peer-reviewed publications.

Prior to coming to NC State in 1983, Gilligan served as a research assistant professor and assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Illinois.  He also served as a visiting research scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

Gilligan holds a BSE in engineering science from Purdue University.  He received his MS and PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan.