As the technology industry grows each year, so does the need for experts who create innovations that fuel this sector and educate the workforce that powers it.
With this demand in mind, UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) has broken a hiring record with a total of 39 new faculty members joining the college’s seven departments in Fall 2025. This marks the third consecutive academic year that CECS has appointed more than 30 new faculty members, although it’s the first time this many have started in one semester.
The new professors, instructors and lecturers bring a wide range of expertise to the college, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity to hypersonics and semiconductors. Michael Georgiopoulos, dean of CECS, says the new faculty’s breadth of knowledge aligns with the university’s strategic plan and enhances its reputation.
“The College of Engineering and Computer Science has hired several faculty members in the areas of AI, energy, digital twins and hypersonics, among others,” Georgiopoulos says. “It has expanded the college’s research and educational expertise in areas that are of national importance and are in line with UCF’s vision of being Florida’s Premier Engineering and Technology University.”
Nearly half of the CECS new hires are under the Department of Computer Science, which is growing its student population and supporting the university’s AI hiring initiative and the newly formed Institute of Artificial Intelligence led by Professor Mubarak Shah.
“The Department of Computer Science welcomes a record-breaking number of 19 new faculty – 12 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and seven lecturers,” says Damla Turgut, the department chair. “This reflects both the growing research potential of the department as well as our commitment to support our growing student population. The research faculty bring expertise across key areas of computer science such as AI – six of the new faculty were hired as part of the UCF Institute of Artificial Intelligence – digital twin technologies, bioinformatics and software engineering.”
A total of eight new faculty are UCF alums, with three who graduated this past summer. Ali Gordon, the dean of graduate affairs, attributes this to the quality of the college’s graduates.
“In recent hiring cycles, applications for faculty positions here in CECS have been very high,” Gordon says. “Landing a professor or lecturer role here is more challenging every year. The success that our alumni have exhibited in attaining positions here speaks to the excellence of our college and its programs.”
The college is expected to bring aboard five additional faculty members in the spring semester, bringing the total number of new hires for the academic year to 44. Learn more about the modeling and simulation new hire below.
Grace Fox
Assistant Professor
Fox’ research focuses on understanding the evolving role of privacy across numerous emerging technological contexts from individual, organizational and societal perspectives. Her work has been published in well-regarded journals and conferences in various academic disciplines. She is collaborating on various multidisciplinary projects leveraging various methodologies with colleagues in business, engineering and health care informatics. In addition to joining the School of Modeling, Simulation and Training, Fox is also a member of the Cyber Security and Privacy faculty cluster initiative at UCF. She has previously held assistant professor positions at Dublin City University in Ireland, and postdoctoral positions at Dublin City University, University College Cork and UCF.
- Written by Marisa Ramiccio