Following an internal search for the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, WPI has officially named Arne Gericke to the role he has held ad interim since July 1, 2022.
At WPI, the dean of undergraduate studies leads efforts to ensure—and improve the quality and effectiveness of—all dimensions of the university’s undergraduate programs and the student academic experience, including courses, projects, academic advising, and undergraduate research. The dean of undergraduate studies also works to communicate the values of the WPI undergraduate program to both internal and external audiences.
“Arne avidly champions undergraduate students and emphasizes the crucial role of faculty in both supporting and challenging them,” said WPI’s Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Andrew Sears. “During the time he has served in an interim capacity, Arne has demonstrated an impressive ability to work with senior leadership, administrators, faculty governance, and faculty from across WPI to ensure that the WPI Plan continues to evolve to meet the needs of our current and future students. Not only is Arne passionate about elevating the value, visibility, and quality of project work and research for undergraduate students at WPI, he is also dedicated to expanding access to a WPI education by creating additional pathways, particularly for students from community colleges.”
Gericke spent the year before his assignment as the interim dean of undergraduate studies serving as WPI’s associate dean of undergraduate studies. He joined WPI in 2011 as professor and head of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and served in those capacities for 10 years. In his research, Gericke studies signaling pathways at biological membranes and has led a lab of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers at WPI focused on the biophysical characterization of lipid-mediated protein functions. Mutations in cell membrane-associated proteins can lead to a broad range of diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and clues to how mutations in certain proteins disrupt the lipid-mediated signaling pathways could lead to new diagnostic techniques and the potential to identify very early signs of disease.
