LOWRIE LECTURE II: Matthew Tirrell

Dean and Founding Pritzker Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago

Building a New Engineering Program: Why and How?

            Why would an elite private university that heretofore had actively declined to have any engineering program in its 120-year history decide to start one in 2011? How has that been approached in order to achieve distinction, innovation and high quality for our students? What special assets is this new engineering program drawing on? The genesis of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago will be described with a view toward understanding what it can contribute to the realm of engineering research and education.