Vijay Dhir, the dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, recently announced his plans to step down as dean in June 2015.
After he steps down, Dhir said he plans to return to his position as a professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering and focus on his research in heat transfer.
“I want to go back and (focus) on my research,” said Dhir. “My research has slowed down recently.”
Dhir was appointed dean in 2003 after being the interim dean for about one year. When he steps down in 2015, he will be two years into his third term.
As dean, Dhir said he has focused on fundraising to compensate for budget cuts and recruiting faculty and students.
Daniel Kamei, the vice chair in the bioengineering department, said Dhir has introduced more interdisciplinary research centers such as the UCLA Wireless Health Institute and made changes to condense the engineering curriculum.
UCLA will form a committee to identify possible candidates for dean in spring 2014, according to a UCLA statement.
Compiled by Chanini Soni, Bruin senior staff.