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April 13, 2017

Sr. VC for research named

Rob A. Rutenbar

Rob A. Rutenbar

The head of the computer science department at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign has been named Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for research, effective July 1.

In this new position, Rob A. Rutenbar will lead the University’s strategic vision for research and innovation, enhancing existing technological partnerships.

He will be responsible for establishing and implementing a long-term plan for research infrastructure and managing the University’s Center for Research Computing, economic partnerships, the Innovation Institute, the Office of Export Controls, the Office of Research, the Research Conduct and Compliance Office and the Radiation Safety Office.

Rutenbar has nearly 40 years of experience in innovation and technology. His research focuses on three broad categories: tools for a wide variety of integrated circuit design issues; methods for managing the statistics of nanoscale chip design; and custom computer architectures for perceptual and data analytics problems.

He currently is the Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering and heads the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, where he oversees 70 faculty members and more than 2,400 students.

Prior to assuming that position in 2010, Rutenbar was a faculty member in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for 25 years. At CMU, he also was the Stephen J. Jatras Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2002-10.

Rutenbar founded the tech firms Neolinear Inc. and Voci Technologies, Inc. He was the founding director for the Center for Circuit and System Solutions, a multi-university consortium that focused on next-generation chip design challenges. The recipient of 14 U.S. patent grants, he has undertaken endeavors funded by AT&T, Google, IBM, the National Science Foundation and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance. Rutenbar is the author of eight books.

Rutenbar earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Wayne State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in computer, information and control engineering at the University of Michigan.


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