Patricia J. Culligan
Matthew H. McCloskey Dean, College of Engineering
Professor of Civil Engineering
About the Dean
Patricia Culligan became Dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Engineering on August 1, 2020.
She previously was Chair and Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. She is the founding associate director of Columbia’s Data Science Institute; a member of the Executive Committee of the Earth Institute; and Co-Founder of the Collaboratory @Columbia, which supports the development of cross-cutting curricula for a data-rich world. She also served as the vice dean of academic affairs for Columbia Engineering.
Culligan is a Chartered Engineer registered with the UK Engineering Council and a Fellow of both the American Society of Civil Engineers and the British Institution of Civil Engineers.
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Websites
Education
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
M.Phil, University of Cambridge
B.Sc (Hons), Civil Engineering, University of Leeds
Diploma in Language, Literature, and Civilization, Université d’Aix-Marseille III
Research Interests
Patricia Culligan’s expertise is in water resources and environmental engineering. She focuses on sustainable urban infrastructure, social networks, and the application of advanced measurement and sensing technologies to improve water, energy, and environmental management.
She co-directs a $12 million research network sponsored by the National Science Foundation that is developing new models for urban infrastructure to make cities cleaner, healthier, and more enjoyable places to live. Through her research, she has developed several techniques to improve understanding of the fundamental mechanisms governing water and contaminant flows in soils and aquifer systems.
Culligan’s work transcends a variety of other research fields, including urban design, policy, microbiology, ecology, and geochemistry. She has served on the National Academies Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board as well as on the board of Governors of the ASCE’s Geo-Institute. She also has chaired the National Academies Standing Committee on Geological and Geotechnical Engineering.
She is the author of seven books, seven book chapters, and more than 150 technical articles.
