Dr. Jonas Whitfield

Jonas Whitfield has been dean of the School of Engineering & Computing since 2019. The school, in the Rowan Engineering Center and Ashby Hall, offers degrees in computer science, data science, and mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering. Its programs pair theory and modeling with hands-on design work, from the first year through senior capstone projects. The dean's office sets the school's academic standards and oversees its labs and facilities.

Whitfield worked with Dean Theodore Nakamura to launch the Minor in AI & Society, and his school's faculty proposed DS 210 Data Ethics and Society, which the University Curriculum Committee approved in March 2026. He has pushed to put more engineering students on community projects, including work with the city of Merrow Falls on its bridges and water systems.

A civil engineer, Whitfield studies river hydraulics and the aging dams and mill races of small industrial cities, a subject he says Merrow Falls made impossible to ignore. He worked for five years as a practicing engineer and is a licensed professional engineer. He joined Alkimi in 2008 from the faculty of Vantry State University and chaired Civil & Environmental Engineering before becoming dean. He holds a bachelor's degree from Tamarack State University and master's and doctoral degrees from Corwin University, all in civil engineering. He canoes the Merrow River most summer weekends and has opinions about every bridge on it.

See also: School of Engineering & Computing·School of Engineering & Computing departments·University leadership