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Montoya promoted to vice provost, dean of College of Technology and Innovation


March 23, 2011

Mitzi Montoya, executive dean of the Arizona State University College of Technology and Innovation (CTI), has been promoted to vice provost and dean of CTI, effective immediately. In addition, Montoya will continue as interim chair of the Department of Technological Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. She replaces Keith Hjelmstad, who will return to the faculty as professor of civil engineering at the ASU Fulton Schools of Engineering. 

Chell Roberts, professor and chair of engineering, moves up to executive dean of CTI, reporting to Dean Montoya.  Roberts will continue as chair of the Department of Engineering.

“Mitzi Montoya is an able administrator, a strategic thinker and an innovator,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “Her broad background in management and engineering is ideally suited to the task of developing the College of Technology and Innovation into a college of national and international rank and one that supports and advances the East Valley’s growing cluster of high-tech companies.”

Said ASU Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth D. Capaldi in announcing the appointment, “Dean Montoya arrived at ASU with a reputation as an innovative educator and researcher who bridges management and engineering, a perfect fit for the polytechnic mission.  She has already exceeded our lofty expectations, having in a short time created a new B.S. program in technological entrepreneurship, launched the Aerospace & Defense Research Collaboratory (ADRC), and won a $1 million grant for the ADRC and $1 million in corporate matching funding for the ADRC.

“I wish to thank Keith for his service at CTI and wish Keith, Chell and Mitzi great success in their new roles at ASU.”

Montoya joined the ASU administration last summer from North Carolina State University’s College of Management, where she served as assistant dean of research and Zelnak Professor of Marketing Innovation.

“I like working at the boundaries,” Montoya said. “I believe we can develop better solutions to real problems when we work across boundaries because real innovation lies at the intersection of thought worlds. For me, CTI is a bold experiment in exactly that – by bringing together disparate disciplines under one academic ‘roof,’ it is an incredible opportunity to create novel and much needed educational and research solutions.”

In addition to the grants she won at ASU, Montoya is currently the principal investigator on a $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant focused on computational collaboration in crime scene investigation. The project, IC-CRIME (Interdisciplinary Cyber-Enabled Crime Reconstruction through Innovative Methodology and Engagement) was launched in response to a scathing report by the National Academies of Science to enhance the reliability and validity of forensic science.

Another of Montoya’s projects involves work on virtual innovation teams to explore technology-enabled collaboration and decision-making, including the role of emerging 3-D virtual world technology as a collaborative environment. 

Montoya earned a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and a doctoral degree in business administration, both from Michigan State University.


Media Contact(s):
Christine Lambrakis, lambrakis@asu.edu
(480) 727-1173, (602) 316-5616