Mehran Mesbahi to serve as A&A chair

On July 30, 2026, Dean Nancy Allbritton shared the following announcement with the College of Engineering community:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mehran Mesbahi as chair of the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics for a five-year term, subject to approval of the Provost.

Mehran brings an exceptional record of scholarship, teaching, service and external engagement to this role. He holds the J. Ray Bowen Professorship in Innovation in Engineering Education and serves as executive director of the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation. His research and leadership span distributed and networked aerospace systems, optimization and control theory, autonomous guidance, navigation, control, and learning systems and aerospace technology transfer. He is a Fellow of AIAA, a Fellow of IEEE, member of IEEE Control Systems Society Board of Governors, member of the advisory board of AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous awards recognizing his significant contributions to research, teaching, innovation and engineering education, including the UW Distinguished Teaching Award and the NASA Space Act Award.

Mehran began serving as interim chair of A&A in November 2025 and has provided steady leadership as the College conducted the permanent chair search. Throughout his interim term and in the search process, Mehran demonstrated collaborative leadership, deep commitment to the department, and vision for its next phase of growth. The search committee noted his ability to engage diverse stakeholders, build consensus and foster a positive departmental culture, as well as his commitment to strengthening A&A’s educational mission, enhancing the student experience and expanding partnerships with industry. I am confident that under his leadership, A&A will continue to build momentum as a collaborative, forward-looking department with growing strength in areas central to the future of aerospace engineering.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to the search committee, chaired by Juming Tang and including Caitlin Christian, René Hymmen, Joseph Knoth, Justin Little, Alvar Saenz Otero, Rachel Reichert, Marco Salviato and Amir Taghvaei, for conducting a thoughtful and inclusive search process.

Please join me in congratulating Mehran on his appointment.