Dr. James M. Tien, former dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Miami, was recently elected the International Secretary of the U. S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a key leadership position with extensive membership responsibilities. He has also been appointed to three overarching committees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). First, the most significant appointment is to the Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine and Public Policy (COSEMPUP); it is a joint unit of the three National Academies. Most of its members are current or former members of the Councils of the three academies. COSEMPUP was chartered by the Academies to address "the concerns and requests of the President's Science Advisor, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Chairs of key science and technology-related committees of the Congress." COSEMPUP studies are usually conducted by special interdisciplinary panels comprising the nation's best scientific and engineering expertise.

Second, Tien is also a member of the Committee on Revitalizing Graduate STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – Education for the 21st Century; the focus of the project is to identify deficiencies in the system and to establish various strategies to improve STEM graduate education programs. STEM advances have long been central to our Nation’s ability to manufacture better and smarter products, improve health care, develop cleaner and more efficient domestic energy sources, preserve the environment, safeguard national security, and grow the economy. For the U. S. to maintain its preeminent educational position in the world, it will be essential for the Nation to continue to seamlessly integrate the education of future scientists and engineers, including the alignment of graduate courses, curricula, labs and fellowship/traineeship experiences with the needs of prospective employers.

Third, given the growing interest in the U. S. infrastructure, Tien is especially proud to be appointed a member the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), which mission is to promote innovative transportation solutions to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. The TRB Executive Committee provides strategic direction and oversight for TRB’s activities and programs. It consists of 26 appointed members and 20 ex officio members. Of the 26 appointed members, seven are members of the National Academies and eight are CEOs of state transportation agencies. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, TRB facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation.

Tien was born in New York City in 1945. He spent his formative years in China, Taiwan and Brazil, before returning to the U.S. to begin his college education. He received a B.E.E. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1966, and an S.M. degree in electrical and systems engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1967 as a Bell Laboratory Fellow. Later, in 1969, he returned to MIT and obtained his Ph.D. degree in systems engineering and operations research in 1972. At present, Tien is a distinguished professor and dean emeritus at the College of Engineering, University of Miami, where he served as dean (2007-2015) and was responsible for doubling the number of women faculty, doubling research expenditures, doubling undergraduate enrollment, and significantly boosting enrollments at both the master’s and doctoral levels. He is also credited with hiring several world-class faculty members, establishing career ladders for staff, enhancing the college’s national reputation, and securing major gifts. Previously, Tien served on the RPI faculty from 1977 to 2007, during which time he was nationally recognized as the founding chair of the interschool Department of Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems and the inaugural Yamada Corporation Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering; additionally, he twice served as RPI’s acting dean of engineering.

Concurrent with his over 40 years as a professor and administrator, Tien maintained a wide-ranging industrial career, including being a member of technical staff at Bell Telephone Laboratories, a project director at the Rand Corporation, an area director at Urban Systems Research and Engineering, and – from 1975 to 2015 – a principal, vice president and treasurer at four different research consulting companies, in partnership with several academic colleagues and students. Tien’s research interests include real-time decision making, model-based analytics, information-based Big Data, training-based artificial intelligence, and public policy. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Tien has published extensively, been invited to present dozens of plenary lectures, and been honored with both teaching and research awards, including the Florida Governor’s Award, the IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award, the IBM Faculty Award, the IEEE Norbert Wiener Award, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the IEEE Major Educational Innovation Award, the IEEE Joseph G. Wohl Outstanding Career Award, and the National Institute of Justice Research Award.

In his most recent career progression, Tien was recruited to be dean of the University of Miami (UM) College of Engineering from 2005 to 2015, and, since 2015, he remains a distinguished professor involved in all facets of undergraduate and graduate education at UM. More recently, Tien has been appointed the UM Faculty Ombudsperson which duties include the following: to assist faculty in determining the institutional channels most appropriate for the resolution of a complaint or conflict; to assist faculty in seeking resolution of a complaint or conflict through normal institutional channels; and to facilitate the informal resolution of complaints or conflicts through mediation. With the advent of Covid-19 in late 2019, the role of the Faculty Ombudsperson has become more demanding.