Jerome Lynch Reappointed Dean of Pratt School of Engineering
Lynch has overseen growth in students, programs and research
Under Lynch, Pratt’s student body has increased 40% and the number of students pursuing master’s degrees has more than doubled as the school has launched new programs in Design and Technology Innovation; Game Development, Design, and Innovation; Robotics and Autonomy; and Climate and Sustainability Engineering.
At the undergraduate level, Pratt has introduced Character Forward, an initiative to integrate ethics and character formation into engineering education through experiential learning; First-Year Computing, a new required course that introduces students to computational thinking, modeling and programming to solve authentic engineering problems; and DESIGN Climate, a two-semester program where students team with industry and community clients to design solutions for client-defined sustainability problems.
During Lynch’s first term, Pratt’s research expenditures have grown 27% and now top $100 million annually, second only at Duke to the School of Medicine. Faculty recruitment has focused on frontier spaces such as artificial intelligence and machine learning and robotics. The school has also launched research centers focused on risk science for climate resilience (RESILE) and computational medicine (Duke Center for Computational and Digital Health Innovation) and a vibrant hub for translation and commercialization, the Christensen Family Center for Innovation.
Earlier this year, Pratt kicked off fundraising for a planned renovation and expansion of the historic home of Duke Engineering, Hudson Hall, which is expected to begin in 2026.
“Through his strategic thinking, effective leadership, collaboration and community building, Jerry Lynch has accomplished much during his first three years at Duke, defining a clear vision for Pratt in a changing national landscape for engineering education,” Zhang said. “Faculty members and institutional leaders alike trust his leadership, knowing that he is committed to driving real progress for the long-term success of Pratt and Duke.”
His confident, collaborative and forward-looking leadership has helped elevate engineering at Duke and Pratt among our peers. I look forward to continuing to work with him to advance Duke’s education, research, and outreach missions and keep the Pratt School on its remarkable trajectory.”
Provost Alec D. Gallimore
Lynch, who is also the Fitzpatrick Family University Distinguished Professor of Engineering, came to Duke from the University of Michigan, where he was chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a faculty member for 19 years.
An expert in the field of advanced sensing and information technologies for monitoring and control of civil infrastructure systems, Lynch is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Engineering Mechanics Institute. And the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, among others. He holds four U.S. patents, has one patents pending and has founded three start-up companies to implement commercial applications of his research.
Lynch earned his PhD in civil and environment engineering, a master’s in civil and environmental engineering, and a master’s in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He received his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from the Cooper Union in New York.