Letter from Dean Morgan

September 2025

Dear College of Engineering Alumni, Parents, and Friends:

I am delighted to send you my first letter as permanent dean of the College, following the announcement of my appointment this summer. I am privileged to lead a college of engineering that has not only world class talent in our students, faculty, and staff, but also a strong sense of social responsibility. Our research and curricula focus on technologies that will improve health care, make quantum leaps in computing, revolutionize the world’s energy future, and more. I believe no college of engineering is better positioned to shape a future where engineering discoveries enable boundless human progress for every individual and every community.

As Dean, I am committed to executing on our vision to make BU Engineering a destination, training ground, and unbounded ecosystem for unparalleled engineering talent and discoveries. As I hit the ground running this year, two key focus areas will be advancing our leadership and visibility in engineering scholarship and impact and deepening our investment in undergraduate education to become a premier destination for aspiring engineers. These foci will necessitate everything from recruitment and retention of talent, to increasing grant activity and faculty recognition, to enhancing student experiential learning opportunities, and more. I am eager to begin this work and look forward to sharing updates on our progress.

Earlier this month we welcomed our newest classes of students. Competition for admission was fierce: the College received its highest number of undergraduate applicants ever, and this year only 15% of applicants were admitted. As part of our continued focus on student success, the University and College have rolled out several initiatives over the past year. Incoming freshmen now benefit from a reimagined six-day orientation experience designed to be a fully immersive transition to life at BU. The College has also expanded our cadre of academic advising staff to ensure that all our students are aware of and able to access the incredible opportunities and resources throughout our College and University. Every undergraduate engineering student will have a staff advisor and faculty mentor; further, every incoming student (freshman or transfer) will also have a peer advisor.

Our students and faculty continue to demonstrate their entrepreneurialism and far-reaching impact. After winning two spots in a highly competitive summer accelerator program at BU, mechanical engineering students Dominique Csehill (ENG ’26) and Jakob Esterowitz (ENG ’27) spent this summer working to realize their business ventures. Dominique developed NextStep EDU, a digital application guidance platform for college admissions aiming to address inequities in the college application process, and Jakob co-founded Orobor, which collects discarded tennis strings and recycles them into high-purity polyester pellets for use in clothing manufacturing. On the research side, a team including our Biomedical Engineering researchers beat out a method developed at Google to predict the structure of multiprotein complexes, which has applications in developing new medicines for a variety of diseases.

Later this month, we look forward to welcoming students, faculty, alumni, parents, and friends to campus for our annual BU Engineering Catalyst Summit on Friday, September 26. This year’s Summit will explore how BU Engineering, in partnership with the broader BU ecosystem and with industry, is creating a more resilient, forward-looking, and equitable energy future through advances in AI, computing, materials, and power systems. Please join us to engage with faculty, student leaders, and entrepreneurs on this critical topic and spend time alongside other alumni, parents, and friends who care about the College and our impact.

Whether you join us on September 26, sign up to mentor an engineering student, engage with our Career Development Office on recruitment, or explore other ways to get involved, I hope you consider the kind of impact you can have. Your engagement strengthens our community and speeds our progress.

If you have questions, thoughts, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me here.

Wishing you a great fall ahead,

Elise

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Elise F. Morgan (she/her)
Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering Design and Innovation
Dean, College of Engineering
Boston University