Biography
The dean of the College of Engineering, David W. Hahn is an accomplished mechanical engineer specializing in thermal sciences and laser-based diagnostics, including renewable energy and biophotonics. He has over three decades of experience working in higher education, national agencies and laboratories.
Under Hahn’s tenure, the College of Engineering has exploded in growth. Student population and faculty have risen sharply, while research funding has doubled and continues to climb. A champion of diversity in engineering, he has spearheaded multiple efforts to increase underrepresented populations in the field. And he helped establish the school’s four-year student design program to strengthen hands-on education and focus on today’s most pressing issues – food and water, energy, health care, and security.
Hahn joined the University of Arizona after a 20-year career at the University of Florida, where he served as chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Under his leadership, the university built a 4,000-square-foot student design center, his department grew to the largest on campus in terms of student enrollment, and the female student population in mechanical and aerospace engineering increased to 20%, about 50% above the national average.
He was the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering 2007-2008 Teacher/Scholar of the Year and 2009-2010 Advisor/Mentor of the Year, and he received the UF Society of Women Engineers 2016-2017 Outstanding Support of Women in Engineering Award. Hahn is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Optical Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.
Hahn began his research career as an NRC postdoctoral associate in the electro-optics branch of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He then spent four years at Sandia National Laboratories, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a member of the technical staff.
Hahn studied mechanical engineering at Louisiana State University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1986 and a doctorate in 1992. In 2014 he received the Alumni Achievement Award from his home department.
David W. Hahn
Craig M. Berge Dean, College of Engineering | Professor & Eminent Scholar
Professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
