The U-M career of Dean Alec Gallimore: Saying goodbye to a friend
Dean and Aerospace Engineering professor Gallimore left a legacy in Aero and beyond
Michigan Engineering’s Dean Alec D. Gallimore will be particularly missed by those of us in the Aerospace Engineering department when he leaves the University of Michigan to join Duke University as their new provost. During his time as Dean, Gallimore has been passionate about creating an inclusive environment and has worked to inspire others through his extensive legacy. With his mission of equity centered engineering and his Michigan Engineering 2020 strategic vision, he has propelled the University of Michigan to become the world’s premier engineering program for surviving the common good.
Throughout his time here at the University of Michigan, Gallimore’s primary research interests have included electric propulsion, plasma diagnostics, space plasma simulation, electrode physics, nano-particle energetics, and hypersonic aerodynamics/plasma interaction. He has helped mentor and graduated 44 PhD students and 14 master’s students and has written more than 360 publications on electric propulsion and plasma physics. Dean Gallimore has also served on multiple advisory boards including NASA throughout his career and was awarded the Stuhlinger Medal for achievement in electric propulsion from the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society in June 29, 2022.
From founding and directing the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory (PEPL) and developing the first Robotics Department at a top-10 US engineering school to founding the Mcubed seed funding program, Dean Gallimore has pushed the College of Engineering and its students to new heights. His passion for people-first engineering and drive for research will never be forgotten even after his time here at the University of Michigan.
His accomplishments as dean have had a significant impact on all of us at the college, but his work as an aerospace engineering professor has had a profound impact on our field and the people in it. We wish our colleague Alec nothing but the best in his next chapter at Duke. Your expertise and leadership will be missed but will be felt here in all that you’ve built at U-M.