Wednesday afternoon, President Shirley Ann Jackson was scheduled to announce the appointment of a new vice president and dean for Rensselaer at Hartford. Dr. John A. Minasian will begin serving in this position on February 1.
Jackson said the new leader of the Hartford campus is “a proven leader as a manager, educator, and entrepreneur.” She continued, “Based on the Hartford campus, Rensselaer’s education programs for working professionals emphasize the university’s core strengths in science, engineering, and technology. Under Dr. Minasian’s able leadership, we will continue to develop high-quality, focused academic offerings capable of attracting the brightest executives and other working professionals.”
Minasian previously served as the dean of Extended Education at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Prior to that, he had also served as the dean of Corporate Education and the director of the School of Industrial Management at WPI, where he earned all of his degrees—a bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering, and a doctorate in systems and operations engineering.
Before working in academia, Minasian worked in the information technology industry, and was an entrepreneur. His experience includes founding a consulting company in the eighties, and in 1990 he was elected the CEO of Cirrcus Computers, Inc.
Minasian will be the first to serve as vice president and dean for Hartford since Alan Eckbreth stepped down from the position last April. Since that time, three administrators on the Troy campus took on the duties of the position. Jackson had the responsibility of running the Hartford campus, and Provost G. P. “Bud” Peterson was overseeing the academic affairs of the satellite campus. Tom Apple, dean of the graduate school, was supervising RPI’s Education for Working Professionals program.
