Samuel Graham is dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland and Nariman Farvardin Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Graham became dean of the Clark School in October 2021 and was reappointed in June 2026.
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Graham’s peers have recognized his leadership and contributions with some of the most important awards in engineering, including the IEEE Richard Chu Award for Thermal Management and the ASME Allan Kraus Thermal Management Medal. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers. Graham was also named an Honorary Member of ASME.
Under Dean Graham’s guidance, the Clark School has developed a student-centered experience rooted in modern academic programs and experiential learning opportunities, fostered an inclusive culture that recognizes achievement, and expanded its pioneering research.
In announcing his reappointment, UMD Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice said, “Dean Graham’s student-centered commitment, reflected in his support for student organizations, advisory councils, and financial assistance, has been a defining feature of his leadership. His new Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) initiative has become a model for campus.”
Graham has introduced several new and leading academic programs:
With renewed support, the Clark School’s competition teams perform consistently well. The school’s RoboScout team, for example, finished second in a national competition during year two of the three-year competition in 2025.
The Clark School is also now the home of the Clark Scholars Program Network, a national network of engineering schools that brings together exceptional engineers, scholars, and leaders and makes an engineering education possible for those with financial need.
As a result of these and other efforts, Maryland Engineering’s student population includes aspiring engineers from every county in the state of Maryland.
Maryland Engineering is an international leader in fields such as advanced manufacturing, engineering and medicine, robotics and autonomy, semiconductors, quantum, and AI, including AI infrastructure and applications in transportation. In October 2025, for example, the school hosted a unique roundtable on the construction and environmental aspects of data centers.
In March 2026, the university co-hosted with AMD a National Academy of Engineering member-led event on Closing Strategy Gaps for the Future of Artificial Intelligence infrastructure, and followed by co-hosting with Purdue University a NAE-member led event on Quantum Manufacturing in May 2026, both the first of their kind.
Graham serves as a convener for government, industry, and academics, and the Clark School now has a number of strategic partnerships it did not have before Graham’s arrival, like its five-year, $78.2 million cooperative agreement to spearhead the Data Driven Engineering Research (DataDrivER) program with the United States Army. The Clark School is the home institution for the NSF Center for Quantum Networks ERC and a key partner in the NSF EARTH ERC.
The dean’s first term included the opening of signature programs and locations that demonstrate the Clark School’s commitment to expanding opportunities across the state:
In 2026, Dean Graham will oversee the substantial completion phase of Stanley R. Zupnik Hall, an interdisciplinary research and educational facility that will house Civil Engineering and faculty from Mechanical Engineering and the Quantum Technology Center. The official opening will be April 2027.
Graham has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the Department of the Navy Science and Technology Advisory Board, and has chaired the Emerging Technology Technical Advisory Committee of the US Department of Commerce. Prior to joining UMD, Graham was Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. Chair of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratory. Graham earned his B.S. from Florida State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech.