Minerva Schools at KGI Names Deans of Computational and Natural Sciences

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minerva Schools at KGI, offering a reinvented university experience for the brightest and most motivated students from around the world, today announced the appointments of Dr. Eric Bonabeau as Dean of the College of Computational Sciences, and Dr. James D. Sterling as the Director of Minerva Labs and interim Dean of the College of Natural Sciences. The two join Dr. Stephen M. Kosslyn, Founding Dean, and Dr. Daniel Levitin, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities, as key academic leaders at the Minerva Schools at KGI. The Minerva Schools at KGI will welcome its founding class in the fall of 2014.

"Eric and Jim bring extraordinary talent and experience to the Minerva team," said Dean Kosslyn. "Their unique academic and industry expertise will be enormously helpful as we develop a curriculum that prepares students to be leaders and innovators, in a wide range of disciplines. Eric's expertise in all things computational will help us design a curriculum for the 21st-Century, and Jim's expertise in designing lab solutions that use remote, shared, simulated, physical, mechanical and other resources will be invaluable."

Dr. Eric Bonabeau has been appointed Dean of the College of Computational Sciences. A well-published, best-selling author, and an accomplished international speaker, Dr. Bonabeau joins the Minerva Schools at KGI from Icosystem Corporation, a science and technology company he founded where he serves as Chairman of the Board. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Paris-Sud University in France and is an alumnus of Frances' Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications. Committed to applying complex scientific concepts to real-world problems, Dr. Bonabeau is renowned as one of the world's leading experts in the field of complex systems and distributed adaptive problem solving.

"I'm tremendously excited to join the Minerva team for what promises to be an amazing journey," said Dr. Bonabeau. "Creating an undergraduate Computational Sciences curriculum where students learn to apply scientific concepts against real-world scenarios in a global classroom experience is a natural extension for me professionally. As a scientist, technologist and entrepreneur, I can't wait to put all of my skills to work."

Dr. Bonabeau's commercial experience includes years of research and development in U.S. and European telecommunications and software companies. He has published more than 140 scientific articles, and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. He is the author of three books, including the scientific best seller, "Swarm Intelligence" (which was the basis for another best seller, "Prey," by Michael Crichton). Dr. Bonabeau and the team of faculty he recruits will develop and teach the curriculum for the College of Computational Sciences, designing the full catalog of courses that begins with the yearlong freshman cornerstone course in Formal Systems.

Dr. James D. Sterling, previously Dean of the School of Applied Life Sciences and current Vice President for Academic Affairs at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI), will serve as Director of Minerva Labs, and has also been appointed interim Dean of the College of Natural Sciences. Dr. Sterling holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology, and is an alumnus of Texas A&M University where he earned a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a founding faculty member of KGI, Dr. Sterling developed the engineering coursework that prepares students to work in the development of laboratory research tools, laboratory automation, and micro-bioanalytical methods. In addition, Dr. Sterling serves as chair of the academic dean's committee of The Claremont Colleges consortium.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Minerva and creating a new kind of university experience for undergraduate students," said Dr. Sterling. "I'm particularly excited and intrigued by the educational innovations we are developing and look forward to leveraging Minerva's learning platform and new methods in laboratory automation to educate students in the College of Natural Sciences."

As an entrepreneur, inventor, owner of patents in the area of fluid mechanics, former president of the Association for Laboratory Automation, and current co-director of the Microfluidics Research Laboratory at KGI, Sterling will bring his established leadership and research expertise to his roles as Director of the Minerva Labs and interim Dean of the College of Natural Sciences. He will take the lead in designing the curriculum for the College of Natural Sciences, including the yearlong freshman cornerstone course in Empirical Analyses. This curriculum will set the stage for his building the infrastructure (mechanical, simulated, outsourced, and physical) that will comprise the labs—ensuring that these resources are tightly integrated with the natural sciences curriculum.

About Minerva Schools at KGI
The Minerva Schools at KGI* offers a reinvented university experience for the brightest, most motivated students from around the world. Combining an interdisciplinary curriculum and rigorous academic standards, an accomplished faculty versed in the science of learning, an advanced interactive learning platform leveraging cutting-edge technology, and four years of immersive global experience, Minerva will deliver an exceptional liberal arts and sciences education for future leaders and innovators in every discipline. The Minerva Schools at KGI were established by KGI in alliance with Minerva Project. For more information please visit: http://minerva.kgi.edu      

*pending WASC approval

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