George Korfiatis, Institute Professor of Environmental Engineering, named Dean of Stevens' Schaefer School of Engineering

Professor George Korfiatis, an international expert in the field of environmental engineering, has been selected as Dean of the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology. Korfiatis succeeds Dr. Bernard Gallois, who served in the engineering dean's post for seven years as the Schaefer School's Founding Dean.

An extensive search was conducted, with the search committee chaired by 1960 alumnus Dr. Frank Fernandez, Stevens' Director of Institute Technology Initiatives, who is the former Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In addition, there was an interview committee composed of faculty, trustees, alumni, and department directors. Both the search and interview committees screened more than 60 qualified candidates before enthusiastically endorsing Korfiatis for the position.

Korfiatis, the founding Director of the Center of Environmental Engineering and a professor of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering at Stevens, "has consistently demonstrated exceptional ability in broad areas of faculty scholarship," said Stevens' president, Dr. Harold J. Raveche.

"Dr. Korfiatis' accomplishments are extensive," he continued, "ranging from independent, externally funded research and scholarly publications, to the development of new curricula and the discovery of technology that has led to intellectual property of great interest in the marketplace.

"Beyond Professor Korfiatis' sustained record of excellence as a faculty member, he brings tremendous energy, enthusiasm and passion to the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and to Stevens Institute of Technology."

Korfiatis assumed the deanship on October 1, 2002.

In addition to his academic duties, Korfiatis has worked actively in the field of technology commercialization, in the context of Stevens' academic direction known as Technogenesis®, in which students, faculty and partners in industry nurture new technologies from innovation to marketplace implementation. Korfiatis is a technology advisor to the Stevens Technogenesis spinout companies PlasmaSol and HydroGlobe, which are devoted to finding new applications for environmental remediation.

Korfiatis has also performed environmental remediation research funded by NASA, NSF, the US Army, and other government and military research agencies. Under his leadership the Stevens Center for Environmental Engineering has developed research partnerships with other major universities, industry and government agencies.

"I take this position with only one goal," says Korfiatis, "to make the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering a widely recognized global asset."

A native of Greece , Korfiatis holds a doctorate in Water Resources/Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University (1984). He also earned at Rutgers a master’s degree in Water Resources Engineering (1980), as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering (1978). He has published numerous papers in refereed journals regarding environmental issues. He has also co-authored several of books in his field of expertise, in addition to editing several published volumes of conference proceedings.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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