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MIT appoints Hamsa Balakrishnan associate dean of engineering
A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Balakrishnan earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University.
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Hamsa Balakrishnan / Image- MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has appointed Hamsa Balakrishnan as associate dean of the MIT School of Engineering.
In the new role, Balakrishnan will spearhead efforts to attract, retain, and support top talent across all academic levels within the engineering school. She will also oversee various faculty and student programs and initiatives.
“Professor Balakrishnan’s exceptional leadership and dedication have significantly impacted the School of Engineering,” said Anantha Chandrakasan, chief innovation and strategy officer, dean of the School of Engineering, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Currently the William E. Leonhard Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Balakrishnan serves as the principal investigator of the Dynamics, Infrastructure Networks, and Mobility (DINaMo) group, which conducts research on modeling, analyzing, controlling, and optimizing modern infrastructure systems.
The group’s work has been instrumental in addressing challenges such as advanced air mobility, air traffic congestion, and airport operations through collaborations with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, and major airports.
Balakrishnan’s leadership experience includes serving as associate department head in AeroAstro from 2018 to 2021, where she oversaw undergraduate and graduate education programs. She also served as director of Transportation@MIT in 2018-19, managing interdepartmental graduate programs in transportation and focusing on faculty engagement and student recruitment.
During her tenure, she restructured graduate student recruiting, coordinated the shift to remote instruction during the pandemic, and introduced a provisional funding program for PhD students.
Her research contributions have been widely recognized, with numerous honors including the NSF CAREER Award, AIAA’s Lawrence Sperry Award, and the American Automatic Control Council’s Donald P. Eckman Award.
A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Balakrishnan earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. Before joining MIT, she held positions at the University of California Santa Cruz and NASA Ames Research Center.
Balakrishnan succeeds Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee Professor in Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who has served as associate dean of engineering since Sept.1, 2023. Olivetti will continue in her role until the end of August before assuming the position of MIT Climate Project mission director.
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