Interim Dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Jennifer Ross is Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Ross is a professor of physics, member of the BioInspired Institute and, prior to this appointment, served as associate dean for creativity, scholarship and research in the College of Arts and Sciences. She previously served as the chair of the Department of Physics from 2020-24.
In her leadership roles at the College of Arts and Sciences, Ross worked to enhance the student experience, grew the faculty ranks, and oversaw unprecedented research expenditures. Ross has pioneered innovative teaching techniques for experiential learning courses that have been adopted around the world.
Ross is an award-winning biophysicist whose research focuses on cellular organization and next-generation bio-inspired materials. She has a Ph.D. in Physics, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Cottrell Scholar and winner of the Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award from the Biophysical Society.
She is a leader in the physics and biophysics academic community serving in elected positions of Secretary/Treasurer and Chair for the Division of Biological Physics (DBIO) in the APS and serving on the Biophysical Society Council. She is currently the co-chair of the Soft Matter Gordon Research Conference in 2025 and the Chair-Elect for the 2027 APS March Meeting and was elected to the APS Council to represent DBIO.
Ross joined the Syracuse University faculty in 2019.