Jeff Fergus

Jeffrey W. Fergus is the associate dean for undergraduate studies and program assessment in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Prior to accepting this role in the dean’s office, Fergus served as associate dean for assessment and graduate studies for the college.

Fergus joined the materials engineering faculty at Auburn University in 1992 after receiving a doctorate in materials science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of science in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois. He also completed post-doctoral research at the University of Notre Dame.

In his role as associate dean for undergraduate students and program assessment, Fergus is responsible for managing the assessment and enhancement processes associated with all aspects of the College of Engineering’s mission. In addition to oversight of ABET and SACS accreditation compliance, Fergus also coordinates the college’s assessment activities with the Auburn University Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Fergus has been involved in promoting diversity and inclusion in science and engineering at the College of Engineering throughout his tenure. He initiated and is the committee chair of the college’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee, established in 2018 to monitor the climate regarding the engagement of diverse student, staff and faculty populations, and to coordinate and support activities to improve inclusion and diversity in the College of Engineering. Through this work, Fergus has overseen the branding of the college’s DEI efforts under the “Engineer Together” tagline; introduced implicit bias to students in first-year orientation classes; provided guidance for making class assignments more inclusive and introducing DEI in classes; led a train-the-trainer program to provide DEI sessions led by engineering faculty and staff; and helped to develop awards to recognize the DEI efforts of faculty, staff and students.

Fergus represents the College of Engineering on the Chief Diversity Officer’s Cabinet, leads the Advocate and Allies Program for promoting understanding of gender inequity issues and is the college’s representative for Auburn University’s Bias Education and Response Team (BERT). He initiated the Promoting Emerging Engineering Scholars (PEERS) speaker series and the Preparing Future Faculty workshops for recruitment of faculty from underrepresented groups.

Fergus is the faculty advisor or co-advisor for several identity-based engineering student organizations, including the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Out in STEM (oSTEM). In April 2022, Fergus was honored with a LGBTQ Advocate Award. He is a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence at Auburn University. Additionally, Fergus led a National Science Foundation S-STEM Project for Scholarships for Engineering Students from Underrepresented Groups and was a collaborator on a Sloan Foundation project to increase Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.