University Leadership

David Bunis serves as the senior vice president and general counsel at WPI. As the university’s first chief legal officer, Bunis brings decades of legal experience to the role. A member of the senior management team, Bunis helps guide WPI through the full scope of legal issues facing universities, including enterprise risk management, Title IX compliance, intellectual property, disciplinary investigations, institutional governance and compliance, real estate, and more. As a practicing attorney, Bunis has represented some of the largest nonprofits and universities throughout New England. He ...

Terri A. Camesano has been the Dean of Graduate Studies at WPI since 2014, and was the inaugural full-time Dean of Graduate Studies. In her current role, she oversees Graduate Admissions, Graduate Student Professional Development, Online Graduate Education, and Professional Education. Dean Camesano is also the primary advocate for our 2000+ graduate students, and oversees Master's, PhD, and Certificate programs in all areas of Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Business. Dean Camesano is also faculty in Chemical Engineering, and has been at WPI since 2000. 

Philip Clay serves as WPI’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. A seasoned higher education professional, Philip Clay has worked in student affairs for 36 years. Vice President Clay oversees an array of student services and programs designed to support WPI’s 6,900 full and part time undergraduate and graduate students. He is responsible for the leadership of the Student Affairs Division which includes Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics, Rubin Campus Center and Student Activities, Residential and Dining Services, Health Services, Student Development ...

Dana L. Harmon is the director of physical education, recreation, and athletics at WPI, a position she has held since 2002. She is only the sixth athletic director in the 150 year history of WPI, and the first woman to serve in that role. Harmon oversees the physical education program for the university's 4,500 undergraduates; over 35 club sports with more than 750 students; an intramural program with over 2,500 participants; and WPI’s NCAA Division III athletic program which includes 20 varsity sports and over 650 student-athletes. She was honored as the 2019 National Association of ...

Biography of Rev. Debora Jackson, DMin, MDiv, ME, MS, BS The Reverend Dr. Debora Jackson is the Harry G. Stoddard Professor of Management and Dean of the Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a premiere STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) based institution recognized for project-based education that integrates the theory and practice of management. In response to changing industry needs, Dr. Jackson seeks to promote research, collaboration, and partnerships that understand broader societal needs and recast the vision for business education in ways that ...

Dr. Jean King is an active neuroscientist and Peterson Family Dean of Arts & Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Previously Dr. King was the Vice Provost of Biomedical Research and Professor of Psychiatry, Radiology, and Neurology (with tenure) at UMass Medical School, where she had been a faculty member since 1994.  Together with other administrative leaders at WPI, Dean King has launched new undergraduate and graduate programs in Learning Science, Neuroscience, Interactive Media and Game Development, and AI and has expanded undergraduate research opportunities.  Dr. King’s ...

John A. McNeill was named the Bernard M. Gordon Dean of Engineering in June 2021. McNeill joined WPI in 1994 after nearly a decade in industry and served as the interim Dean of Engineering from September 2018 until being appointed Dean. A senior member of IEEE and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education, the National Academy of Inventors, and the Council for Undergraduate Research, McNeill received a bachelor’s degree in engineering sciences from Dartmouth College, an MS in electrical engineering from the University of Rochester, and a PhD in electrical engineering from ...

Eileen oversees the public relations and strategic communications initiatives at WPI.  An award-winning professional with more than 25 years of experience, Eileen has spent more than a decade connecting the world with WPI’s outstanding research and project-based learning initiatives. Her team of experts focus on story development, media relations, research communications, internal communications, issues and crisis management, as well as government communications.

Vijay Menta is WPI’s Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. He oversees Network Operations, Systems Services, Application Administration, Data Architecture, Enterprise Resource Planning, Support Services, Project Management, Academic Technologies, Research Computing, and IT Security for WPI community and plays a major role in the strategic initiatives of the university. Vijay joined WPI from Middlebury College where he was the Vice President & CIO. While there, he directed the completion of the Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project for the ...

The holistic WPI experience, both inside and outside the classroom, is a phenomenal learning laboratory that can prepare students for their future lives as leaders and citizens. At WPI, students have the opportunity to take risks, try new skills and opportunities, and to learn from them. The spirit of collaboration, value for student input, and culture of innovation makes WPI a place where students can build meaningful relationships with students, faculty, and staff who share their passions and interests. I am committed to ensuring that students make meaning of their curricular and ...

Dr. Mimi Sheller is the Dean of The Global School and is an internationally recognized scholar and higher education leader, with fifteen years of executive leadership across academic units, research centers, and professional organizations. Prior to joining WPI, she was tenured Professor of Sociology, Head of the Sociology Department, and founding Director of the Center for Mobilities Research and Policy at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Dr. Sheller was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa from Roskilde University, Denmark, in 2015, the Drexel Provost’s Award for Outstanding Career Scholarly ...

Since January 2022, Lauren Turner has served as senior vice president of talent and inclusion and chief diversity officer at WPI. Reporting directly to the President, she oversees all aspects of WPI’s human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) functions, including compensation, benefits, talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, organizational development, employee engagement, labor relations, and employee relations, HR information systems, data and analytics, DEI, and the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education (ODIME). WPI ...

Bogdan Vernescu is the Vice President and Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, and Professor of mathematical sciences. He was appointed to the position of Vice Provost for Research in 2016, and is responsible for enhancing faculty research efforts and increasing support for research at WPI from government agencies, corporations, and foundations. His responsibilities include supervising the operation and non-financial support of WPI’s research enterprise, including oversight of university-wide research institutes and centers, and the offices that administer research sponsorship, research ...