Following an eight-month-long national search, John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America, has appointed Aaron Dominguez, as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1, 2016. Dominguez currently serves as associate dean for research and global engagement and professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).
Dominguez, whose area of research is experimental high energy physics, has a strong history of research and grant activity at UNL, starting with a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant and culminating with his most recent cooperative agreement with the NSF for $11.5 million. As part of the recent award, he leads a team that includes researchers from UNL and eight other universities in the construction of the next generation of particle detectors for the group’s experiment at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.
“We are most fortunate to have recruited Dr. Dominguez — an accomplished professor and scientist —to be the new dean of our School of Arts and Sciences,” said Garvey. “Students and faculty at The Catholic University of America will benefit from his years of teaching, his significant knowledge in the field of physics, and his experience in global engagement.”
In his role as associate dean for research and global engagement, Dominguez works with 18 department chairpersons in UNL’s College of Arts and Sciences, the directors of 17 centers and institutes, and the directors of 22 programs related to domestic and international research.
“I am so humbled and grateful to have this opportunity,” said Dominguez. “I am very excited to be a member of the Catholic University community and the dean of arts and sciences. I humbly ask for prayers, and I look forward to seeing my new colleagues soon.”
The new dean received a B.A. in math and physics from Whitman College in 1992, a B.S. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1992, an M.S. in physics from the University of California at San Diego in 1994, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at San Diego in 1998.
A faculty member at UNL since 2004, Dominguez has served as full professor of physics and astronomy since 2015 and as associate dean for research and global engagement since 2014. Prior to working at UNL, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 1999 to 2004, as a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of California at San Diego from 1998 to 1999, and as a graduate research assistant at the University of California at San Diego from 1992 to 1998.
As dean of Catholic University’s School of Arts and Sciences, Dominguez will oversee 18 departments: anthropology, art, biology, chemistry, drama, education, English language and literature, Greek and Latin, history, library and information science, mathematics, media studies, modern languages and literatures, physics, politics, psychology, Semitic and Egyptian languages and literatures, and sociology.