University of St. Thomas

Career

Ronald J. Bennett is currently Founding Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas. Dr. Bennett has been chair of the undergraduate engineering department since 1993 and director of the graduate program since 1995.

Bennett holds a Bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire; a Master of Science in Metallurgical Engineering and PhD in metallurgy from the University of Minnesota; and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Prior to joining the University of St. Thomas, Bennett held executive positions in industry for more than 20 years, working at BMC Industries, CPI (now Guidant) and Teltech as well as several entrepreneurial organizations. His experience ranged from R&D, engineering and manufacturing to sales, marketing and general management. He teaches and publishes on topics such as materials engineering, innovation, strategy, technology transfer, leadership and engineering education. His primary interests are in the areas of engineering education reform to meet the demands of the 21 st Century. He is a member of numerous scientific and professional societies, is an ABET program evaluator and member of the Engineering Deans Council of the American Society for Engineering Education.

"A Successful Industry/Academia Continuing Engineering Education Partnership" with J. Povolny, J. Walker, H. Schilling and S. Zelinski, Journal of Applied Manufacturing Systems, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 1998.

"Industry-Academia Collaboration: Developing a New Master of Science in Technology Management Degree Program," American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, June 1998.

"The Manufacturing Engineer of the 21st Century" 1995 World Conference on Engineering Education

B.S. 1965 Physics and Mathematics, University of Wisconsin/ EauClaire
M.S. 1967 Metallurgical Engineering and Ph.D. 1971 Metallurgy, University of Minnesota
M.B.A. 1980 University of St. Thomas