Mitra Dutta

Dr. Mitra Dutta is Vice Chancellor for Research and a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her role as vice chancellor, she is responsible for the oversight of all pre-award grants administration, human subjects, animal and institutional biosafety as well as conflicts of interest and compliance. Prior to becoming the Vice Chancellor for Research, Dr. Dutta served as Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UIC for nearly eleven years being renewed twice after each five-year term. It is possible that she holds the record as the longest running female Department Head of an ECE Department in a Research I University.

After receiving her Ph.D. from University of Cincinnati and postdoctoral appointments at Purdue University, City College of New York, and Visiting Researcher at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Dr. Dutta joined the US Army Research Laboratory first as Team Leader of the Optoelectronics Team, then as Branch Chief and finally as Division Director of the Physics Division. As Division Director, she supervised over 100 scientists and Engineers in the areas of fundamental research, sensors, electron devices and energy.

In 1996, she moved to the US Army Research Office (ARO) where she ran the Electronics Division. In 1999, she was promoted to the Senior Executive Service as Director of the Research Technology and Integration Directorate, having oversight over the $310M ARO budget. In that capacity, she also oversaw the Army’s Small Business Program, Historic Black University/Minority Institutions Programs, the Army research offices at London and Tokyo as well as youth outreach programs such as the US Math Olympiad.

Dr. Dutta’s research has focused on electronic and optoelectronic devices as well as the physics of these materials and device structures. She has authored or co-authored over 570 publications and presentations, holds 30 US and Canadian patents, has co-edited six books and is a co-author on three. She served on the Army Science and Technology committee for Homeland Security, and coauthored the NRC Reports 1 and 2 for the Board for Army Science and Technology.

Dr. Dutta is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the Society of Women Engineers, and Fellow of the Optical Society of America. She was the recipient of the IEEE Harry Diamond Award in 2000, the only woman to receive this award in its sixty-two year history, and the National Achievement Award from the Society of Women Engineers in 2003.