Dear Friends of Maseeh College,
This spring, I share news that carries both pride and genuine sadness: I will leave Portland State at the end of June to serve as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at New Mexico State University. Writing this letter feels different from the ones before it. What I want to say, above all, is thank you.
Four years ago, I came to Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University with a clear conviction that engineering education could be excellent and accessible at the same time, not one traded for the other. Maseeh College serves more first-generation students than any engineering program in Oregon, holds federal designation as an MSI, HSI, and AANAPISI, and ranks first in the state for both ROI and social mobility. What I did not fully anticipate was how completely this community would live that conviction. Faculty who mentor students in research labs from their first year. Staff who show up for students in ways that go well beyond their formal roles. Students who build CubeSats, race cars, and suspension bridges while carrying full course loads and, often, full-time jobs. The college I leave is stronger because of every one of them.
Several things from this past year stand out. The college launched a new undergraduate AI degree and a suite of AI certificates, programs that address genuine workforce demand and reflect the seriousness with which our faculty have engaged the field. A redesigned freshman engineering curriculum took shape this year, built to strengthen retention and give students a stronger foundation for the full arc of their education. Retention numbers moved in the right direction. That result matters as much as any metric.
Maseeh College now sits at 153 in the U.S. News standings for engineering PhD programs, a position the college improved every year I served here. Research funding reached new records, with work in semiconductor workforce development, sustainable power systems, renewable energy, and smart grids deepening our ties to Oregon's economy. The FUTURES Initiative and the Sloan Center for Systemic Change grant built Indigenous STEM from a commitment into a practice, one I expect to define this college for decades to come.
None of this belongs to me. It belongs to the faculty and staff who built it, the students who demanded it, and the partners and donors who believed in it before the evidence arrived.
The momentum here runs deep. In research, in new academic programs, in student outcomes, Maseeh College carries the faculty expertise, staff dedication, mission clarity, and community trust to keep building on what we started together. Martin Siderius steps into the role of interim dean having served most recently as both Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. That depth of familiarity with the college's faculty, programs, and operations will anchor Maseeh's leadership through this transition, and I could not feel better about leaving the college in his hands.
To our partners and alumni: your investment shapes outcomes you may never fully witness, and those outcomes shape people who go on to shape the world. To the students: keep going. To the faculty and staff: what you do every day carries real consequence.
Serving as the dean of Maseeh College ranks among the deepest privileges of my career.
With deep gratitude,
Joseph Bull