Bromley engineers department's rise to the top

By Sangeetha Ramaswamy

LIZ OLINER/YH

"Before, the Yale engineering program lacked a dean. We did not have a strong central figure to coordinate the program on a whole and bring together [professors'] individual contributions," Professor of Electrical Engineering Eric Altman said.

Since taking the helm of the department, which serves both graduate and undergraduate students, Bromley has used a well-defined vision to institute concrete changes. Bromley has reduced the number of junior faculty hired in order to seek out engineering professors who are the best in the world. "[This policy] adds visibility and distinction to Yale and will continue to do so. I'd rather not fill a position at all with a person who is second-best in his field," Bromley said. He also acknowledged, however, that this policy "makes it difficult in hiring candidates for senior positions."

Bromley has also stressed the importance of attracting first-rate professors, in addition to appealing to the most gifted applicants. Since he arrived in 1994, Bromley has worked with the admissions staff to draw in more prospective engineering majors to Yale. "[Dean] Rick Shaw recognizes that traditionally, we have not gotten a fair share of those filtered [through the admissions process]," Bromley said. Part of Bromley's vision to rebuild the department has been to create a "new emphasis" in the admissions procedure for students interested in engineering. "Once they're here, they will receive lots of attention," he said.

While Bromley's efforts to attract the best professors and students have been important factors in the department's high standing, Bromley's reputation has also brought prominence to the engineering program.

"I appointed Allan Bromley as dean of engineering because he was a proven leader," Levin said. "I had high expectations about the energy and sense of direction he would bring to Yale engineering; he has met or exceeded these expectations in every way."

Before becoming dean, Bromley helped to build the field of nuclear physics at Yale as the chair of the physics department. He took a brief hiatus from Yale to serve as the nation's first Presidential Science Advisor under Bush.

The high-level contacts that Bromley made while working in the Bush administration have assisted him in his role as dean, he said. "I got to know some of the CEOs in corporate America. I can pick up a phone now and open up internships and joint research programs," he said.

"Allan Bromley's prior high-profile position has brought a higher profile to Yale engineering," Altman said. "He
is highly regarded on a national level. He has also been successful in fundraising for Yale engineering. He has been particularly successful in establishing ties to industry.
Over the past one and a half years, a number of CEOs have [visited Yale]."

Bromley described engineering as "an interface" between practical, real-world situations, and science. Though engineering and Yale seem an unlikely combination to many people, Bromley maintained that Yale's undergraduate and graduate programs have many strengths that other schools, including more technical schools, lack.

"At Yale, there is potentially synergy with all kinds of departments and different schools. We simply go to one of the departments and borrow faculty," Bromley said. For example, joint programs with the School of Management allow engineering students to receive a general background in business, or, as he put it, a "one-semester MBA."

Another strength of Yale engineering is that undergraduates receive a degree "in a humanistic tradition," Bromley said. He explained that a liberal arts education benefits engineering majors in the job market. "You have to [be able to] argue for your ideas, which gives Yale students a tremendous advantage," he said.

Bromley is confident that Yale's approach will create the leaders in technology for the 21st century. "We'll let others train the support folk; we train the leaders," he said.

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