Chancellor Kristin Sobolik (left) introduced George Nnanna, the founding director of the School of Engineering, to a group of faculty members and supporters on Wednesday at the Saint Louis Club in Clayton. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
Excitement is building for the official launch of the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ new School of Engineering with its inaugural cohort starting classes this fall, and faculty members and supporters of the university had the opportunity to meet with Founding Director George Nnanna on Wednesday evening at a welcome event held at the Saint Louis Club in the Centene Center in Clayton.
Chancellor Kristin Sobolik introduced Nnanna, noting how his experience made him the “perfect fit” for his role leading the new school. Nnanna was founding dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas Permian Basin from 2018 to 2023 and more recently was the director of its Texas Water and Energy Institute.
“I chose UMSL for a number of reasons,” Nnanna told the crowd. “One is because of the university’s mission, as well as its vision to transform lives. That is consistent with my personal and professional mission, which is to provide a solid education to a community of neighbors.”
During a conversation with Sobolik at the event, Nnanna spoke about how he’s approaching the challenge of creating a curriculum designed to prepare future UMSL engineering graduates to be job-ready when they finish their programs.
“As I’m building the program, what I have in mind is experiential learning,” said Nnanna, who holds seven U.S. patents. “We have to integrate the hands-on experience, as well as integrate innovation into the curriculum so that we can prepare the students for the jobs of today as well as the jobs of tomorrow. The way we are going about it is to integrate and embed artificial learning into the curriculum so it can enrich the whole process. Additionally, we will engage the industry in understanding the needs for the present and the needs for tomorrow, so we can be able to ensure that our curriculums are current so we can solve the global challenges ahead.”
Nnanna was announced as the founding director of the School of Engineering in late January and officially started his UMSL role on April 1. He has hit the ground running. In addition to designing the curriculum and interviewing/hiring faculty and staff members, he’s made a point of reaching out to make industry connections that will enhance the school.
“He knows how to engage with companies,” said UMSL Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Steven Berberich, who led the search committee. “And not just from the idea of ‘What can you give me?’ but as he said today, ‘How can our curriculum align with the needs that you have so that we’re constantly producing graduates who have the skillsets necessary and are ready to be hired in these areas?’”
Nnanna is excited about the opportunity to connect UMSL’s School of Engineering with companies in St. Louis.
George Nnanna (center) chats with James S. McDonnell Foundation Director of Grants and Impact Investments Gerard Hollins Jr. (left) and Vice President of Strategy and Programs Karl Guenther at the welcome event on Wednesday. The McDonnell Foundation provided an $8 million grant to support the launch of UMSL’s School of Engineering.
“This is really a fertile ground for an infusion of industry into the university process,” Nnanna said. “With a large number of industries, there’s opportunity for internships, there’s opportunity for boards, there’s opportunity for what I call our faculty internship program, whereby faculty can go into industries, learn during the summer and bring that back to the classroom.
“Additionally, it’s an opportunity to do hands-on senior design projects. Those in the industry can give us problems to solve, and that will engage the students and serve as a training ground for the industry. If a student’s working for you as a senior, you can just hire them and spend less amount of time in training. Also, faculty members can engage in research or collaborative endeavors.”
UMSL’s School of Engineering will help address the ever-increasing need for trained engineers in the state of Missouri. A 2021 market analysis showed significant shortcomings in the number of students earning degrees in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering at universities in the state, with thousands of jobs in those fields going unfilled each year.
Plans for the School of Engineering were announced in September 2024, with an initial capital investment of $15 million as part of Missouri’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget. In December 2024, the James S. McDonnell Foundation awarded an $8 million grant for the new school, one of the largest one-time philanthropic gifts in the history of the university.
The fall semester, with the first engineering cohort, starts on Aug. 25.
“He is just the right director for the new UMSL School of Engineering,” Berberich said. “He truly does get the mission of the institution. We have someone as a director who is really going to lead us on the path that’s going to get these programs where they need to be.”
