Larry Coldren

Larry Coldren, the Fred Kavli Professor of Optoelectronics and Sensors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will serve as acting dean of the College of Engineering, effective July 1. He will replace Matthew Tirrell, who will be joining the faculty at UC Berkeley as the Arnold and Barbara Silverman Professor of Bionengineering, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, as well as chair of bioengineering.

Coldren, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Materials and is the director of the campus’s Optoelectronics Technology Center, received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. His pioneering contributions in the design, fabrication, and analysis of diode lasers have had an important impact on commercializing new sources for fiber optic communications, particularly in the areas of vertical-cavity and widely tunable distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers.

“We greatly appreciate Professor Coldren’s long-standing dedication to our campus, and his willingness to help ensure a smooth transition for our College of Engineering,” said Chancellor Henry T. Yang.

The author or co-author of more than a thousand papers, seven book chapters, and a textbook, Coldren has been issued 63 patents. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including election to the National Academy of Engineering, and the 2004 John Tyndall Award from the Optical Society of America.

The search for the next dean of engineering is currently under way, with Linda Petzold, professor of mechanical and environmental engineering and of computer science; and Edward Kramer, professor of materials and of chemical engineering, co-chairing the search committee.