C Daniel Mote, Jr

University of California, Berkeley

Mote was born in San Francisco, California and received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley in mechanical engineering. After a postdoctoral year in England and three years as an assistant professor at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, he returned to Berkeley to join the faculty in mechanical engineering for the next 31 years. He and his students investigated the dynamics, stability, and control of high-speed rotating and translating continua (e.g., disks, webs, tapes, and cables) as well as biomechanical problems emanating from snow skiing. He coined the area called "dynamics of axially moving materials" encompassing these systems. He has authored or co-authored over 300 academic publications, and has mentored 58 Ph.D. students. At Berkeley, he held an endowed chair in mechanical systems and served as chair of the mechanical engineering department from 1987 to 1991 when the National Research Council (NRC) ranked its graduate program effectiveness highest nationally. Because of his success at raising funds for mechanical engineering, in 1991 he was appointed vice chancellor at Berkeley expressly to create and lead a $1 billion capital campaign for the campus that ultimately reached $1.4 billion.

University of Maryland

In 1998, Dr. Mote was recruited to the presidency of the University of Maryland, College Park, a position he held until 2010 when he was appointed Regents Professor. His goal for the university was to elevate its self-expectation of achievement and its national and global position through proactive initiatives. During his tenure the number of Academy members among the faculty tripled, three Nobel laureates were recognized, and an accredited school of public health and a new department of bioengineering were created. He also founded a 130-acre research park next to the campus, faculty research funds increased by 150%, and partnerships with surrounding federal agencies and with international organizations expanded greatly. The number of students studying abroad tripled, and he created an annual open house day that has attracted over 100,000 visitors on that day, founded a charitable foundation for the campus whose board of trustees launched a $1 billion capital campaign that reached its goal, increased the graduation rate of all students in six year by 15-20% during his tenure and took every student to lunch that wanted to go. The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the campus #36 in 2010 and its Engineering School #13 globally.

National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Engineering elected him to membership in 1988, and to the positions of Councillor (2002-2008), Treasurer (2009-2013), and President for six years beginning July 1, 2013. He serves as vice chair of the National Research Council(NRC)and has served on its Governing Board Executive Committee since 2009. He chaired the NRC Committee on Global Science and Technology Strategies and Their Effects on US National Security (2009-2010), co-chaired the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable (2007-2013), and co-chaired the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Workforce Needs for the US Department of Defense and the US Industrial Base (2011-2012). He also served as vice chair of the NRC Committee on the Department of Defense Basic Research (2004) and on the NRC committee authoring the Rising Above the Gathering Storm reports of 2005 and 2010. He was also a founding member of the FBI’s National Security Higher Education Advisory Board (2005-2010).

Awards and memberships

Mote has received numerous distinctions throughout his career: