YSU University hires new dean of engineering

There are only about six or seven female engineering deans in the country.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University has hired Dr. Cynthia S. Hirtzel as dean of its William Rayen College of Engineering and Technology.
Hirtzel, a former provost and vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York, College at Platsburgh, will succeed Dr. Charles A. Stevens, who is retiring after holding the position since 1995. The appointment is effective July 1.
"I feel excited and privileged to be joining the Rayen College of Engineering and Technology as its new dean," Hirtzel said. "The programs, staff, faculty and students in the college are strong. These current strengths, of course, provide a basis and potential for future growth."
Hirtzel is the first woman to lead the engineering school, which has 1,100 students.
She said there are about six or seven female engineering deans in the country.
Her background
Hirtzel is a physics professor at Platsburgh and had served as the college's provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1998 to 2001. She also was an interim dean of its school of business and economics, and was dean of Temple University's College of Engineering. She also worked at Syracuse University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
"Dr. Hirtzel will bring to her role an outstanding academic and administrative background to lead YSU's College of Engineering and Technology to the next level of academic distinction," said Dr. Tony Atwater, YSU's provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Her vision for leading the college is highly congruent with our mission of excellence in teaching and learning and our role as a comprehensive urban university."
Stevens said Hirtzel "brings excellent credentials to the job, especially her past experience as an engineering dean, her academic training in engineering, and her engineering teaching background."
Hirtzel has a doctorate and a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis.