Biography – Brian S. Mitchell

Brian S. Mitchell is Professor Emeritus at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and served as Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research from 2006 to 2014.  More recently, Brian was Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Research, and Facilities in the School of Science and Engineering.  He was the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) Dean-in-Residence at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2015-16.  Brian graduated with High Distinction with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 1986, and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987 and 1991, respectively.  Brian is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and recipient of “Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in the Southern Region” award from the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools in 2020.

As Associate Provost for Graduate Studies and Research, Brian’s responsibilities were primarily devoted to oversight of Tulane’s graduate studies programs.  He developed a rigorous process for establishing new interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs that led to six new doctoral programs.  In addition to chairing the Graduate Council, his graduate studies duties included oversight of teaching assistantship budgets, monitoring of school-based graduate admissions and degree award procedures, and training of new graduate teaching assistants in university policies.  He was an elected member of the Executive Committees for both the AAU Association of Graduate Schools (AGS), and the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS).  Brian was also active in graduate education accreditation review for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges.

At CGS and NSF, Brian served as a liaison between the graduate education community and the Division of Graduate Education (DGE) at NSF.   His primary project was on evaluative methods for assessing international research experiences for graduate students in conjunction with the NSF PIRE and GRFP programs, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and other federal and non-profit societies and organizations.  He served as a Scholar-in-Residence at CGS in 2022-23.

In addition to his administrative duties, his research experiences include an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University Karlsruhe, a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Fellowship at the University of Freiberg/Sachsen and the German Federal Materials Laboratory, and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowships at the German Aerospace Agency and the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces.  He was a member of the DAAD Alumni Association Board and is a DAAD Research Ambassador.  Brian has served as an industrial consultant to ExxonMobil, Laitram, LLC. and LLB, Inc., and has secured over $1.8 M in external research funding, primarily from the National Science Foundation.  Nanostructured materials and materials processing are Brian’s primary technical research areas of interest.  He has advised ten Ph.D. and six M.S. students, as well as involving numerous undergraduate students in research experiences.

His professional activities have included Chair and Newsletter co-editor for the AIChE Materials Engineering and Science Division (MESD); Chair of the AIChE New Orleans Local Section; Chair of the AIChE 2004 Spring National Meeting General Arrangements Committee; session chair for numerous professional conferences; panel reviewer for the National Science Foundation; and Mentor for the Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation.  He has also been a Senator from the School of Science and Engineering to Tulane’s University Senate and has served on numerous university committees including the President’s Faculty Advisory Committee.

Brian has authored over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and two U.S Patents.  He is also the author of a textbook entitled “Materials Engineering and Science: Principles, Properties and Processes” that is published by John Wiley and Sons, and a monograph entitled “A Research Agenda for Graduate Education” from the University of Toronto Press.  In addition, he has given over 30 national and international presentations on research or graduate education, and an equal number of outreach presentations to Louisiana elementary school children though the state’s “Speaking of Science” program.