Growing again: new faculty hires in CEEES

Relief of the words College of Engineering outside Cushing Hall Entrance

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences is excited to announce that, even amid a pandemic, we continue to grow to meet the needs of our students.

“We have three new faculty members to introduce,” said Joannes J. Westerink, the Joseph and Nona Ahearn Professor in Computational Science and Engineering and Henry J. Massman Department Chair. “One who focuses on our undergraduates, another on our professional master’s students, and a new dean who will lead us all.”

Brad D. Weldon joined the department as director of undergraduate studies in April 2020. Weldon, who received his Ph.D. from Notre Dame in 2010, returned to campus after having served as the Harold Foreman Endowed Professor for Excellence in Civil Engineering at New Mexico State University.

Yazen Khasawneh, associate teaching professor, joins CEEES in August. A licensed engineer with extensive experience in industry, Khasawneh is tasked with helping to develop the new CEEES professional master’s program.

Last but not least, Patricia J. Culligan, the new Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College Engineering, begins August 1. She comes to Notre Dame from Columbia University, where she served as chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

Culligan is a civil engineer whose research focuses on sustainable urban infrastructure, social networks, and the application of advanced measurement and sensing technologies to improve water, energy, and environmental management.

Nina Welding, College of Engineering