Asst. Dean for Engineering for Professionals, JHU

Dan Horn, associate vice dean for professional education at the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, reached out to me about a search he is running for an assistant dean for Engineering for Professionals.

In his email, Dan wrote: “This is a very important role at Johns Hopkins, helping to lead the largest division at the University (6,500+ online students). I’d very much like the additional exposure for the listing.”

This opportunity seems like a perfect fit for Featured Gigs, so I asked Dan to answer my questions about the role.

Q: What is the university’s mandate behind this role? How does it help align with and advance the university’s strategic priorities?

A: Engineering for Professionals (EP) is one of the nation’s largest providers of graduate engineering education for working professionals, and the assistant dean will play an enormous role in shaping the next chapter of that success. Our leadership has witnessed our ability to scale up and has asked EP to boost the school’s impact in the engineering community. Along with that comes the expectation that we continue to deliver an exceptional academic experience to students around the world.

Over the next decade, we plan to significantly expand the reach of our existing 26 online master’s degree programs and 32 credit-bearing certificate programs and add in both categories, to enable more engineers and technical leaders to access a JHU education. Achieving that growth is not simply about increasing enrollment—we’re serious about extending the school’s influence, advancing workforce development and creating new opportunities for innovation in engineering education, particularly in the age of AI.

The assistant dean will be one of the key leaders responsible for translating that vision into reality. They’ll shape enrollment and program growth strategies and evaluate new opportunities while maintaining and enhancing academic quality—we’ve never viewed these as mutually exclusive goals! Our reputation is one of our greatest assets, and sustaining the excellence that drives student success, faculty engagement and national recognition will be a core responsibility of the role.

A particularly important aspect of the position is oversight of our course evaluation and continuous improvement processes. We place significant value on student feedback and use it to inform decisions about curriculum, instruction and program quality. The assistant dean will have the opportunity to strengthen these systems and help ensure that data and student insights translate into meaningful improvements in the learning experience.

What makes this role especially compelling is the combination of scale, influence and impact. Few positions offer the opportunity to help lead an educational enterprise of this size while simultaneously shaping strategy around growth, quality, innovation and student success. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to influence how one of the world’s leading engineering schools serves the next generation of engineering professionals.

Q: Where does the role sit within the university structure? How will the person in this role engage with other units and leaders across campus? Is the role in person, hybrid or remote eligible?

A: Because Hopkins is both entrepreneurial and decentralized, this role offers a unique combination of autonomy and collaboration. The assistant dean will work most closely with EP program chairs and staff throughout the Whiting School of Engineering. But through collaborations coordinated by the Office of the Provost and other universitywide initiatives, the assistant dean will have opportunities to work alongside peers from the university’s 10 other divisions, sharing best practices and helping shape institutional conversations around graduate education, online learning, student success and academic innovation. So you benefit from the flexibility of decentralization with the knowledge resources of a much larger institution.

The role follows a hybrid work model, with an expectation of approximately two days per week in our newly renovated offices in Baltimore. The Homewood campus and our new Mount Washington facility often surprise first-time visitors; these are beautiful, green and walkable environments offering the resources and energy of a world-class research university.

Q: What would success look like in one year? Three years? Beyond?

A: In the first year, success will be measured less by the number of major organizational changes made and more by the ability to develop a deep understanding of our students, programs, faculty and operations. The assistant dean will experience a full annual cycle of planning, budgeting, reporting, enrollment management, academic review and student engagement activities, and a great first year will mean earning their trust, understanding what makes the organization successful and identifying opportunities for improvement and innovation.

By year three, I’d expect the assistant dean to operate as a fully independent strategic leader within the organization. They’ll shape decisions around program growth, student success, academic quality, resource allocation and long-term strategy. Just as importantly, I’d expect them to have launched initiatives that reflect their own interests and expertise, whether that’s advancing AI-enabled teaching and learning, designing new approaches to financial aid and affordability, or creating new credentials.

Beyond that, I see this role as one with tremendous potential for growth. Engineering for Professionals is a large and evolving enterprise, and there’s a great deal of opportunity for the assistant dean to expand the scope of the position. We’re looking for someone who wants to leave a lasting mark on how one of the nation’s leading engineering schools serves working professionals and advances the future of graduate education. I can’t state this often or clearly enough: The challenge—and opportunity—is balancing growth, innovation, affordability and academic quality at scale.

Q: What kinds of future roles would someone who took this position be prepared for?

A: I’d say that this role provides unusually broad preparation for senior leadership positions in higher education because it sits at the intersection of academic affairs, strategy, enrollment management, finance, institutional research, program development, faculty engagement and organizational leadership. I’ve seen colleagues who succeed in roles like this move into positions with titles like associate dean, dean, vice provost, chief online learning officer or other senior academic leadership roles. Experience overseeing a large portfolio of graduate programs, managing significant revenues, working closely with faculty leaders and running strategic initiatives is valued everywhere—at Johns Hopkins and across higher education.

Johns Hopkins also has an exceptionally strong history of supporting internal career mobility and leadership development. Many members of our leadership team began in roles with narrower responsibilities and grew into increasingly significant positions over time. I certainly did. Whether the assistant dean advances within Hopkins or seeks opportunities elsewhere, they’ll leave this role with a track record of driving meaningful institutional impact for a large-scale educational organization.