Dr. Mohammad Dehghani became chancellor of Missouri University of Science and Technology on Aug. 1, 2019. A mechanical engineer, Dehghani is a nationally prominent research and academic leader.

Dehghani joined S&T from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he served as vice provost for research, innovation and entrepreneurship since 2013. Before joining Stevens, he was a professor of mechanical engineering and founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Systems Institute. Through that institute, he established collaborative research and application programs with many organizations.

Dehghani previously led the New Technologies Division at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – a $1.8 billion, 7,000-employee multidisciplinary applied science and engineering national security laboratory.

Dehghani holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University, where he earned his master of science and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering. He also completed a postdoctoral National Science Foundation internship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Richard Brow, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of materials science and engineering (MSE), joined Missouri S&T in 1998 as professor of ceramic engineering and a senior investigator in the Materials Research Center. He was named chair of the ceramic engineering department in 2001. In 2004, he became chair of the then-new MSE department. He has served in other leadership positions, including interim vice provost and dean of the College of Engineering and Computing from 2016 to 2017, director of the Center for Biomedical Research from 2018 to 2021, and interim deputy provost for academic excellence from 2019 to 2022. In March 2024, he was appointed executive director of operations for the Kummer Institute. Brow has more than 250 archival research publications and he holds 22 U.S. and international patents on glasses and related materials. He is a past-president of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the World Academy of Ceramics.

Cheryl Cain joined Missouri S&T in 2023. As chief marketing and communications officer, she leads a team responsible for developing and managing Missouri S&T’s brand identity, strategic communications, web and digital initiatives, social media, visual identity and media relations, and engagement and outreach. Before S&T, Cain was vice president for marketing and communications at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. She holds an MBA in marketing from the University of North Texas, a bachelor’s degree in television-radio/broadcast journalism from Ithaca College, and a certificate in strategic communication management from Ithaca College and the International Association of Business Communicators. She is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America.

Dr. Robin Gore joined Missouri S&T in July 2024 as vice chancellor for student success. Prior to this, she was the vice president for student affairs at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania. Gore holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, a master’s degree in education and student affairs administration from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Dr. John Harris, a seasoned academic leader and researcher, became provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Missouri S&T on July 1, 2025. Formerly dean of engineering and science at Florida Institute of Technology, Harris led initiatives in faculty development, research funding and student success. He previously spent nearly three decades at the University of Florida, serving as a professor of electrical engineering and department chair. Harris earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in electrical engineering, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in computation and neural systems from California Institute of Technology. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.

Dr. Kamal Khayat joined Missouri S&T as the Jones Professor in 2011. He also serves as director of the Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies and was previously director of the Center for Research on Concrete Applications for Sustainable Transportation and Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety, U.S. Department of Transportation-funded University Transportation Centers. Before joining Missouri S&T, he was director of the Center for Excellence on Concrete Infrastructure Engineering and head of the Integrated Research Laboratory on Materials Valorization and Innovative and Durable Structures at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, a master of engineering degree in construction engineering and management, and a master of science degree in structural engineering.

Alysha M. O'Neil became vice chancellor for finance and operations at Missouri University of Science and Technology on July 1, 2021. She previously served as director of project implementation and engagement in the Division of Finance at the University of Missouri-Columbia. O’Neil also served as chief business officer for MU’s Division of Student Affairs. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accountancy from the Trulaske College of Business at MU and an MBA from the university’s Gordon E. Crosby Jr. MBA program

Appointed in June 2021 as vice chancellor for strategic initiatives, Dr. Stephen Roberts joined Missouri S&T in 2014 as the founding dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business. He served as interim provost from July 2019 through May 2021, Roberts previously served as professor and chair of biology at Central Michigan University. As an evolutionary scientist focused on the integrative biology of insects, he specializes in the study of honeybees and solitary bee species. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from Arizona State University and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological sciences from Illinois State University.

Tory Verkamp joined Missouri S&T in 2014 as a senior development officer and was promoted to executive director of development in 2015 and assistant vice chancellor of University Advancement in 2017. Before joining the university, she served as manager of development at Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation in Indianapolis. Verkamp earned a bachelor of journalism degree and a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a certified fundraising executive.

Jill P. Warren joined Missouri S&T in 2021 as the university’s first marketing strategist. In 2022, she was promoted to director of digital marketing. As chief of staff since November 2023, she provides strategic support to the chancellor and oversees government relations activities in coordination with the University of Missouri System’s government relations team.

She manages administrative operations, coordinates communication and engagement with various stakeholders, and advocates for Missouri S&T’s interests. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Savannah College of Art and Design and is pursuing a master’s degree in information science and technology from Missouri S&T.

Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi became dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Education on July 1, 2022. He joined S&T from Virginia Tech University, where he served as director of the School of Public and International Affairs. An expert in comparative politics, Middle East regional politics and Iranian history, he holds a Ph.D. in international relations from The American University, a master’s degree in political science from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston University.

Dr. David Borrok became vice provost and dean of the College of Engineering and Computing on Feb. 1, 2023, after serving the role in an interim position since August 2022. He previously served as associate dean for research in the college. He joined Missouri S&T in 2017 as chair of the department of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering after serving as director of the school of geosciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering and geological sciences from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in economic geology from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in geology and geophysics from Missouri S&T.

Dr. James D. Sterling, whose teaching and research interests include applied entrepreneurship and bioengineering, has been named vice provost and founding dean of the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Sterling is a professor in the Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in Claremont, California, which is a member of the Claremont University Consortium. Sterling serves as director of the school’s intellectual property and technology transfer committee and its Ph.D. program. He will begin his role at Missouri S&T on June 1.

Sterling joined KGI in 2000 as a founding faculty member. He is KGI’s former vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty and director of the professional sciences master’s degree program. From 2013 to 2015, he joined the Minerva Schools at KGI, serving as the founding interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and director of Minerva Labs. Sterling also co-founded and currently chairs the board of directors of Claremont BioSolutions, an entrepreneurial KGI spin-off. His interest in developing new products and entrepreneurship began when he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, TRW and Advanced Projects Research as a systems engineer and project manager. Sterling has also taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the California Institute of Technology. He earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1987.