Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering | SJSU

Since her 2002 appointment as Don Beall Dean of SJSU's Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering, Dr. Belle Wei has led a College dedicated to educating engineers who can take on today's problems and produce tomorrow's solutions.

Serving over 5,000 students, the 12 programs of our College provide more engineers to Silicon Valley than any other institution, earning top national rankings in undergraduate and master’s-level programs. The College aims to produce technically excellent, socially responsible, and globally informed citizen-professionals who are making a difference around the world. It advances this goal through initiatives in student success, faculty excellence, and cutting-edge multidisciplinary programs such as biomedical device engineering, green engineering, global experiential learning, and business education for engineers.

Under Dr. Wei’s leadership, the College has launched programs to enhance our students' global awareness and enrich their professional networks. A signature program is the College's Global Technology Initiative (GTI), a two-week study-tour to Asia. Since its inception, GTI has sent student-teams to China, Taiwan, or India each year to meet global collaborators, competitors, and leaders through an intensely immersive learning experience that goes beyond classroom studies. The GTI program, being sponsor-supported, has fully funded more than 140 outstanding SJSU students since 2004. Other programs reflecting Dr. Wei's international reach include our Poverty Alleviation/Service Learning Program and Engineers Without Borders.

This global perspective is rooted in a vision of our College as a preeminent producer of forward-thinking innovators. With this goal in mind, Dr. Wei has established the Silicon Valley Engineering Scholarship, a program that provides $5,000 of annual support for high-achieving students to pursue engineering careers. Dr. Wei is also a principal contributor to CSU (California State University) Engineering Academies, a statewide program that helps high schools better motivate and prepare students for the rigors of engineering education. Moreover, she supports the creation of high-impact programs for first-year students and established a new Engineering Student Success Center to help engineering students thrive.

Most importantly, Dr. Wei's commitment to expanding the sphere for student excellence has produced results that include increased access for women, African-Americans, Latino/Latinas, and other historically underrepresented communities to our College.

Amid an era of economic challenges and uncertainty, the College has doubled its extramural grants to nearly $5 million per year, and increased its endowment gifts by 400% from $7 million to $35 million under Dr. Wei's leadership. Industry partnerships have also been strengthened through the creation of corporate master's degree programs, tripling in number from five to fourteen during Dr. Wei's tenure. Corporate partners for these programs include Silicon Valley companies such as Applied Materials, KLA/Tencor, Lam Research, Lockheed Martin, IBM, and BAE Systems.

Dr. Wei extends her service beyond the university through active engagement in national and international organizations. She serves on the Executive Board for the Engineering Deans Council of American Society for Engineering Education, chairing its Committee on Diversity. She has served on several National Science Foundation panels. And she has assumed numerous leadership roles on program committees for technical conferences. In 2006, Dr. Wei was invited by Congress to share her insights on the "Innovation Agenda," promoting strategies for the United States to maintain and advance its technological and economic leadership in an increasingly challenging and interdependent global arena. Dr. Wei also serves on the boards of Monte Jade and Vision New America and is a founding board member of U.S.-China Green Energy Council.

Dr. Wei's began her career at SJSU in 1987 as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering after completing an engineering M.S. from Harvard and an electrical engineering Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley with specialties in VLSI circuit theory, special architectures, and sensor networks. Following a 1993-94 Stanford visiting associate professorship, Dr. Wei returned to SJSU where she was later elected Electrical Engineering Department Chair from 1998-2002. Thereafter, she accepted her current position as Dean (reappointed for a second six-year term in 2009).

Dean Wei's accomplishments have earned substantial attention to her College:

• 2008-2010 Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation grant: "Broadening Participation in Computing - Hispanic Computer Brigade"
• 2008 U.C. Berkeley Outstanding Electrical Engineering Alumnus Award
• 2007 SJSU International Educator Award
• 2007 EE Times Educator of the Year Award
• 2007 U.C. Berkeley Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien Educational Leadership Award
• 2006 Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Distinction Award (Nonprofit/Policy/Education)
• 2004 Special Congressional Recognition Award for Outstanding and Invaluable Service to the Community
• 2004 Northern California Committee of 100 Public Service Award
• 2003 United States Congressional Commendation, featured in Proceedings and Debates of the 108th Congress, First Session

Dr. Wei is the first person in our College's history to hold an endowed deanship.