Baltimore— Morgan State University (MSU) President Dr. David K. Wilson announced the appointment of Oscar Barton, Jr., P .h.D., P.E., as the University’s new dean of the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., School of Engineering. The announcement comes following a nearly five-month long national search led by a University selection committee in collaboration with an executive search firm
In his new capacity as dean, Dr. Barton will implement a vision for innovative strategic growth; provide leadership through a shared governance process of dynamic faculty, staff and students; manage multiple research centers and facilities; administer the School’s budget; develop curricula and advance academic and research programs that prepare students forcareers in the industries of the future.
Dr. Barton will report to Morgan’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, Lesia L. Crumpton-Young, Ph.D. He replaces Craig Scott, Ph.D., who served as the School of Engineering’s interim dean. His appointment is effective August 17, 2020.
“After conducting a thorough nationwide search, Provost Crumpton-Young, and I, are pleased to announce that Dr. Oscar Barton Jr., has accepted our offer to join the Morgan Family,” said President Wilson. “To lead the University’s highly touted School of Engineering into the future, we wanted an innovative administrator, an accomplished researcher/scholar and a dedicated educator who understands the challenges of and opportunities for a public urban research university, and with Dr. Barton, we’ve checked all of the boxes. His wealth of knowledge and experience will be a welcomed addition to our campus.”
Dr. Barton currently serves as professor and founding chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at George Mason University’s Volgenau School of Engineering. He joined the faculty at Mason in fall 2014, after completing a 22-year career at the U.S. Naval Academy. His research focuses on the development of approximate closed form solutions for linear self-adjoint systems, those that govern the responses of composite structures, and the analysis of dynamic systems. More recently, he investigated the dynamic response of flexible composite structures subject to periodic and random excitation. He has mentored numerous midshipmen through independent research projects and has directed two Trident Scholars, the Naval Academy’s flagship research program. He has published more than 60 journal and conference articles on these topics. Barton is also a fellow of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and is actively involved in academic innovations and program assessment.
Morgan State University is a national treasure, and it humbles me that I have been entrusted to lead a faculty of immense expertise, a staff committed to purpose and a student-body of unbridled potential,” said Dr. Barton. “Morgan’s leadership under President Wilson and Provost Crumpton-Young stimulates entrepreneurship and innovation, essential elements critical to a school’s success and that I will champion as dean of the School of Engineering. I am excited to join the Morgan State family and its community of leaders and change agents.”