Horizons Fall 2016

31 NSU HORIZONS Kyle Fisher , B.A., is the vice president for Public Relations and Marketing Communications at Nova Southeastern University. In this newly created position, Fisher is providing strategic and integrated public relations leadership in the areas of advertising, marketing, social media, internal communications, advancement commu- nications, and public relations. She is responsible for the university’s efforts to position the NSU brand to internal and external audiences, and to advance the university’s mission and vision. She is working in conjunction with NSU’s Office of Advancement and Community Relations to support NSU’s recently launched philanthropic campaign, Realizing Potential , the largest such camp- aign in the university’s history. Fisher joins NSU from Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, where she served as vice president for public relations/marketing and alumni relations. She also spent 18 years at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, serving her final six years there as associ- ate vice president of institutional advancement with responsibilities as chief media relations/marketing officer and senior creative director. A member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Fisher is also a member of the College of University Public Relations Association of Pennsylvania; National Science Foundation Public Relations Network; and the Public Relations Society of America Counselors for Higher Education. Fisher received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative and Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, and attended University of Chicago as an English literature major. n VICE PRESIDENT FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS APPOINTED Yong X. Tao , Ph.D., has been appointed as the founding dean of NSU’s College of Engineering and Computing. Tao joins NSU from the University of North Texas in Denton, where he served as chair of the Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department (MEE), was the endowed PACCAR professor of engineering, a distinguished research professor, and director of the university’s PACCAR Technology Institute. He led the growth of MEE programs—the enrollment climbed to approxi- mately 750 undergraduate students and 80 M.S. and Ph.D. students in five years. He was instrumental in securing accred- itation for the undergraduate program from the Accredita- tion Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and establishing the new Ph.D. program. Tao is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is also past chair of the Heat Transfer Division of ASME and one of the founders of the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers. He is a member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the American Society of Engineering Education, as well. Tao holds two patents (one in the United States and one in China) and has received more than $15.5 million of research funding from various agencies. Additionally, he serves as editor in chief of the international journal Heat Transfer Research , associate editor of the Journal of Science and Engineering Applications , and is a reviewer for several international journals. His B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering are from Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Tao re- ceived a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. n DEAN NAMED FOR THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING AROUND NSU