Lei Yu, Ph.D.

Dr. Yu is the Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Texas Southern University. He has been in this position since September 2009. In this position, he serves as chief academic and administrative officer of the College under the general direction of Provost, and provides leadership in formulating educational policies. He is responsible for supervising the College’s daily operations, managing the College’s budget, and leading fund-raising efforts. Academic departments under his direction include Aviation Science and Technology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Industrial Technology, Mathematics, Physics, and Transportation Studies. He also oversees a number of significant research centers and outreach programs in the college.

Dr. Yu originally joined the faculty in the Department of Transportation Studies in 1994, and is currently serving as a Professor of Transportation Planning and Management as well as Co-PI of NSF-CREST CRCN. In his tenure at TSU, he has secured over 50 externally funded projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and other public and private organizations. Dr. Yu has been the driving force in the development of highly recognized academic programs and top-of-the-line transportation laboratory facilities. He secured 2 million dollars from the Port of Houston Authority to implement a new academic program in Maritime Transportation Management and Security. The advanced laboratories that were developed under his leadership include full-motion driving simulator, mobile traffic lab, real-time traffic monitoring system Mini-TranStar, and Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS). Dr. Yu also provided strong support to different levels of cooperation through inter-institutional programs. He has facilitated the establishment of the Confucius Institute at Texas Southern University in collaboration with Beijing Jiaotong University.

Besides his administrative accomplishments, Dr. Yu also made great academic and scholarly innovations. He has published more than 200 research papers and made over 100 presentations. Dr. Yu is an active member of Institute of the Transportation Engineers (ITE), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and a number of other professional organizations. He also holds the membership in numerous committees as well as other regional, national, and international councils, task forces, and organizations. Dr. Yu is a professional engineer registered in the State of Texas. He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil/Transportation Systems Engineering from Queen’s University (Canada) in 1994, M.S. Degree in Production and Systems Engineering from Nagoya Institute of Technology (Japan) in 1988, and Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Transportation Management Engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University (China) in 1984.