New interim dean for School of Computing and Engineering

By: Ruth Schmidt

Posted: 9/4/07

The School of Computing and Engineering has a new leader this semester. Dr. Walter Rychlewski III will serve as interim dean while the search for a permanent dean continues.

"My charge is to build a transition from the previous administration to the future administration," Rychlewski said. "Then I'll step back into my role as a professor."

He jumps into his new position with excitement and a desire to see UMKC's engineering school reach further success. Rychlewski seems to have a genuine love for the school.

"I am in such a rich environment," he said. "I am enthusiastic about this place, the students that are enrolled here and the people that I work with - great people."

Rychlewski has taught at UMKC since August 2005. He also taught at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., the University of Missouri - Columbia, and Rockhurst Universitiy's Executive Fellows program.

Rychlewski said he has founded six thriving companies, personally invested more than $500,000 in start-up ventures and developed and marketed nationally what may have been the first portable laptop computer, to name just a few of his achievements.

"My whole career points out that I have developed the ability to be empathetic and trustworthy," he said. "Those are the two most important things. Trust is the key in being able to make complex deals come together."

Mark McClernon, chair of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Department, has worked with Rychlewski in the past and sees his new position as a great opportunity for the university.

"I think Walt's presence will enhance our already good relationship with the Kansas City engineering community," he said.

Rychlewski believes partnering further with the engineering community in Kansas City is imperative.

"Kansas City is a great place to have an engineering school," he said.

With so many leading engineering corporations at students' fingertips there is no better hands-on learning environment.

"As engineers, we should be the leaders," he said, referring to other Missouri schools. "Because of the corporate and engineering firms here we have the opportunities. My goal is to help everybody here understand and promote the fantastic opportunity we have due to location."

Rychlewski's desire to inspire students will follow him into his new position.

"I'm still in the academic community because I get to interact with students," he said. "I still think like a student. If you talk to students who have had my class they would say I do things differently. I shake things up."

Mustafa Alamin was in one of Rychlewski's classes and said it was different from any other course he had taken.

"He always seemed interested in our projects," Alamin said. "[The class] gave me perspective on how business is really run, and the risks included."

Alamin also said with a grin, "He talks a lot."

Rychlewski will serve as interim dean until May 2008. He said he hopes to "help us as a faculty and a school, articulate our vision and then formulate it in such a way so we can hire a leader whose vision matches our own."

rschmidt@unews.com