Dr. Warren Dixon has accepted the position of chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  Dr. Dixon received his Ph.D. in 2000 from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clemson University. He worked as a research staff member and Eugene P. Wigner Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) until 2004, when he joined the University of Florida in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. His main research interest has been the development and application of adaptive Lyapunov-based control techniques for uncertain nonlinear systems. His work has been recognized by different technical societies with a number of early and mid-career awards, awards for individual technical accomplishments, various best paper awards, and awards for student mentorship. He is an ASME Fellow (2016) and IEEE Fellow (2016). His service to his technical communities include roles as IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS) Distinguished Lecturer (2013-2018), Director of Operations for the Executive Committee of the IEEE CSS Board of Governors (BOG) (2012-2015), elected member of the IEEE CSS BOG (2019-2020), and he was awarded the Air Force Commander’s Public Service Award (2016) for his contributions to the U.S. Air Force Science Advisory Board. The culmination of his technical contributions and service to the IEEE CSS were recently recognized by the IEEE CSS Distinguished Member Award (2020).  He will start his new position on January 1, 2021.

In welcoming Dr. Dixon to his new position, the Department also thanks Dr. Scott Banks for his service and commitment to UF MAE throughout his 19-month term as Interim Chair.