Georgiopoulos also serves as interim assistant vice president for the Division of Research and Commercialization. In 2010, he was named a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Pegasus Professor, the university’s most prestigious faculty award.

In making the announcement, Tony G. Waldrop, provost and executive vice president, said Georgiopoulos has been with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ since 1986 and his current research is focused on neural network algorithms.

Georgiopoulos received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut. He also has been engaged in research and retention experiences for undergraduate students. He has advised 16 Ph.D., 17 master’s and 67 undergraduate students.

His research has yielded more than 260 articles in journals, book chapters and conference proceedings, and it has generated $13 million in funding during his time at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝.

A search committee is being formed to lead the national efforts in recruiting a new dean, Waldrop said.

A two-year lease was signed last week with the Seminole County School Board to start classes and programs at its Student Museum in July. The 1902 building in the middle of the city’s historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

“The Student Museum building is an ideal site because of its own rich heritage as well as the City of Sanford’s significant architectural history and grassroots historic-preservation movement,” said Rosalind Beiler, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s director of Public History.

The new center at 301 W. 7th St. is intended to foster a close connection between the community and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝â€™s research projects. “By definition, public history engages community partners,” Beiler said.

The university will blend the old and the new with its plans for the museum. While maintaining the museum’s current offerings – such as leading 4th graders on field trips through the museum to learn about Florida’s past – the university will teach its history students how to use new-media techniques of audio, video and digital technologies to create virtual exhibits, artifact databases, podcasts and other projects.

“Through this partnership, we will preserve an important link between today’s tech-savvy students and how our ancestors lived and worked more than a century ago,” said Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop. “The museum also is an outstanding laboratory that will prepare our students for careers in a field that helps all of us connect with and learn from our past.”

Beiler said the university chose Sanford because the city is already committed to historic preservation through the Community Redevelopment Association, Historic Preservation Board and Sanford Historic Trust. The university is planning to hold public workshops and seminars at the Student Museum, along with gathering oral histories.

“This partnership preserves an important part of history for Sanford, Seminole County, students and the whole community,” said Bill Vogel, Seminole’s schools superintendent. “This is so important to the whole preservation efforts of Sanford. Because of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝, this could be a centerpiece.”

The Student Museum is one of the few surviving examples in Florida of school architecture at the turn of the 20th century. The 20,000-square-foot Romanesque Revival brick building opened as Sanford’s first high school and became a grammar school in 1911. In 1984, it was given the title of Student Museum and Center for the Social Studies, and it has since served as an interpretive center and a hands-on teaching museum.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ students will be able to experience the museum’s 1902 classroom with original woodwork and slate boards, a portrait of then-President Theodore Roosevelt and other period artifacts; a Native American room that represents a 1,200-year-old Timucua village; and a pioneer room with a log cabin and tools. The museum also features Grandma’s Attic, where visitors can handle old household items, try on vintage clothes, learn how to churn butter and make candles; the Georgetown and Crooms High School exhibits, which feature information about the city’s African-American community; and other displays.

Behind the museum is a teaching garden that provides students the opportunity to plant and identify vegetables grown at the turn of the last century. There also are Florida native plants, antique roses, a wildflower meadow, field crops and other horticultural displays. Across the street from the museum is the city’s historic tree grove in Touhy Park, which contains about 70 trees that are associated somehow with people, places and events around the country. There are sycamores, magnolias, maples, walnuts and others from Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, Ellis Island, the Alamo and elsewhere.

“Kids thrive on these historical projects, and teachers are going to flock to the center,” said Anna-Marie Cote, deputy superintendent for Seminole schools.

Jarley, who has been at UNLV since 2007, leads a college with about 100 faculty members and 4,000 students. He will direct a college with about 140 faculty members and 8,680 students at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝. His previous administrative positions include senior associate dean and associate dean of Faculty and Special Programs at the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics.

“The institutions that will thrive in the coming decades, those that will be able to attract the best students, faculty and resources, will be those that have made a conscious effort to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” Jarley said in a letter to the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ search committee led by Dean Sandra Robinson of the College of Education.

“Helping a relatively young school define and implement a strategy that provides a distinctive value proposition is a key factor driving my interest in the Dean’s position at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝.”

Jarley received a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also has received academic appointments around the world, including being named Visiting Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

“Dr. Jarley will provide exemplary leadership for the College of Business Administration,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop. “His background and leadership philosophy have shown that he can harness the talents of others to work efficiently and effectively.”

In a recent entry on his blog, , Jarley provided five tips for students looking to improve their college experience: Ask for help, engage others, study an hour more each week, create a portfolio to show accomplishment and get out of your comfort zone.

“College is about expanding your horizons and finding out where your passions and talents intersect. Self-discovery requires that you try new things. And you need to do them with people who are not like you,” he wrote. “Doing things that get you out of your comfort zone also shows employers you are adaptable and it may just end up taking your career in an unexpected direction.”

Foard Jones, associate dean for administration and human resources, will continue to serve as interim dean of the College of Business Administration until Jarley arrives. He became the interim dean in June after former Dean Thomas Keon accepted a position as chancellor of Purdue University Calumet.

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Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop made the announcement this week. Johnson had been named interim dean earlier this summer when Peter Panousis, founding dean of the College of Sciences, announced that he was retiring.

A committee led by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ Vice President of Medical Affairs and Dean of the College of Medicine Deborah German conducted a national search to identify the best candidate for the job.

“Mike was strongly recommended for the dean position by the search committee,” Waldrop said. “I am certain that he will provide exemplary leadership for the college.”

Johnson received his bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Virginia. He joined the faculty at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ă˝ as an assistant professor in 1990 after postdoctoral training at the University of Kentucky and Indiana University.

His research focuses on theoretical condensed matter physics. His recent work was on electronic properties in Nano scale systems, including quantum dots.

Johnson believes that research is very important and that it will continue to raise the university’s reputation thanks to the excellent faculty and students who make it happen on a daily basis.

“I am very proud of the accomplishments of our faculty, students and staff, and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the college toward a very bright future,” he said.

Johnson is not new to administration. He has served in several administrative roles, including Associate Dean in the College of Sciences and Senior Advisor to the Provost.