After being named dean of Auburn's College of Sciences and Mathematics, Nicholas Giordano is looking forward to arriving in August and hitting the ground running to improve on a college he says is "already working really well."
Giordano received his bachelor's degree from Purdue before earning his Ph.D. from Yale. Afterward, he taught at Yale before returning to Purdue in 1979 where he has remained and risen through the ranks of the physics department. He now resides as the department head.
Giordano said when he begins his tenure as Auburn's COSAM dean in the fall he hopes to build early relationships with faculty, staff and students in order to create the best possible learning environment.
"My first few days there will be spent getting to know the people, the facilities and just getting a feel for the school," Giordano said. "At the beginning I'll be doing a lot of listening and meeting people."
After Giordano becomes comfortable and acclimated to his new position, he plans on collaborating with faculty in order to overcome some challenges COSAM is facing.
"We're going to all have to work together to tackle some of the big issues that any college of science and mathematics is up against," Giordano said. "How do we improve the way we serve our students? How do we do a better job of growing the research enterprise? How can we work even better with the other colleges on campus?"
Before he begins implementing new ideas and starting new programs, Giordano is quick to point out if something isn't broken, you shouldn't try to fix it.
"I just need to be sensitive to the fact that there are already some really good things going on (at Auburn)," Giordano said. "I need to understand that first before we think about how we want to improve things."
COSAM Interim Dean Charles Savrda said the faculty and staff have responded positively to Giordano's hiring.
"Those that I have communicated with have been very pleased with the decision (to hire Giordano)," Savrda said. "The majority of faculty and department chairs that I spoke to before the decision was made had him at the top of their list of prospective candidates, so I think it was a very well-received decision."
Giordano has conducted research on computational neuroscience, the physics of nanostructures and mesoscopic systems and computational physics, among other interests.
He is an American Physical Society Fellow and a member of the Acoustical Society of America and the Biophysical Society. Giordano was also named Indiana Professor of the Year in 2004 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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