Louis Padulo, PhD

During his time as Dean, the College of Engineering transformed from an undergraduate teaching college of 250 students, 12 full-time faculty members, the College of Engineering grew in scale and scope by an order of magnitude – into a major research institution with 2,500 students, 150 faculty, and roughly two dozen doctoral, masters and undergraduate accredited degree programs in 8 different fields. The College started an extremely successful cooperative education or “co-op” program, as well as a part-time graduate and continuing education program for surrounding high-tech companies using a live, interactive, instructional television and videotape system introduced by Dean Padulo. To expedite and cushion the shock of this explosive growth, Padulo enlisted engineers and business people as needed from industry, to act as Adjunct Faculty members and to mentor students. He also started a freshman advising system, in which he participated himself, which assigned incoming freshmen in small groups to faculty members who met with them weekly throughout their first year, loosely following Padulo’s syllabus, and who continued as their academic advisors until their graduations.