Sarah Rajala

The former head of Mississippi State's electrical and computer engineering department now is dean of the university's Bagley College of Engineering.

Sarah A. Rajala's appointment officially began June 1. She was approved formally by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning during its May meeting.

Rajala was named department head in 2006 after having served for more than two decades as a professor and administrator at North Carolina State University. At NCSU, she was associate dean for research and graduate programs, among other duties.

With research interests in digital-image processing, color-image processing and digital-signal processing, the 1979 Rice University doctoral graduate has authored nearly 200 scientific and research publications. She holds the prestigious rank of Fellow in several engineering organizations and will serve as the 2008-09 president of the Society for Engineering Education.

Rajala joined the MSU faculty in late 2006 after nearly nine years at North Carolina State University, where she generated more than $22 million in grants for electrical engineering research. She also has authored more than 185 books, refereed publications, technical reports, and invited papers and presentations that have been published and used throughout the country.

She was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 2001. A year earlier, she and two other NCSU colleagues were recognized by the National Science Foundation with Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.