Kobza to Step Down as ISE Department Head at End of June, Remain on Faculty | Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Industrial and Systems Engineering Department Head John Kobza has decided to return to the faculty, effective July 31.

Kobza has been in the position since coming to UT in August of 2013, and will have served two full terms.

“Since coming to UT to be department head a decade ago, Dr. Kobza has helped guide it through a sustained period of growth and success,” said Dean Matthew Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the college. “I am grateful for his tremendous decade of service to the TCE and wish him well.”

Kobza had various faculty and leadership roles prior to coming to UT, including stints at Virginia Tech from 1993-99 and later at Texas Tech University from 1999-2013, where his duties included time as senior associate dean and interim department head.

Kobza’s tenure has coincided with a period of great growth and change for the college. Several of the new buildings and programs were made possible in part through the support of graduates of the department. The Tickle College of Engineering, the John D. Tickle Engineering Building, the Zeanah Engineering Complex, and the Cook Grand Challenge Honors Program are all signs of the impact that ISE alumni have had on UT.

https://tickle.utk.edu/kobza-to-step-down-as-ise-department-head/An internal search for his replacement as ISE leader will soon begin.