Dean Saeid Rahimi's Biography
Saeid Rahimi, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Science and Technology and Professor of Physics
Sonoma State University
Dr. Saeid Rahimi received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics from the University of Shiraz in Iran, and later his Ph.D. in solid state physics from the Pennsylvania State University where he studied semiconductor materials at Penn State’s Materials Research Laboratory. He then joined the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology as a research associate working on impurities in semi-insulating and semiconducting materials. Dr. Rahimi joined the faculty of Sonoma State University in 1982 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1990. Dr. Rahimi focused on the field of photonics when he worked at the Lightwave Division of Hewlett-Packard during his sabbatical year in 1993. He was instrumental in the planning, development and adoption of the new Masters program in Computer and Engineering Science (MSCES), and served as the program’s interim director in 1999. The self-supporting MSCES graduate program has become a good example of a successful public-private partnership within the California State University system (CSU). Dr. Rahimi has raised over $8 million in cash and gift-in-kind for the program. The MSCES program currently has an endowment exceeding $4 million.
Dr. Rahimi was appointed the interim Dean of the School of Science and Technology in 2000 and later, the permanent Dean in 2001. The School of Science and Technology includes nine departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering science, geology, kinesiology, mathematics, nursing, and physics and astronomy. In response to the budget cuts at the California State University system and Sonoma State University, the School of Science and Technology has experienced some significant budget cuts during the past four years. In addition to $6.5 million annual budget, the School of Science and Technology manages an average of $2.5 million for grants and contracts.
Six departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, mathematics, and physics and astronomy are housed in Darwin Hall, the main science building of the school. The Engineering Science Department is housed in the Cerent Engineering Science complex in Salazar Hall. Kinesiology is housed in the university’s gymnasium complex, and the Nursing department is housed in Nichol’s Hall. Over the past four years Dean Rahimi has led the faculty and staff of Science and Technology in planning for the $26 million renovation of Darwin Hall, the main building of the School of Science and Technology. The school successfully operated in borrowed space for the past two years and transitioned back to the renovated Darwin Hall in the beginning of Fall 2006. A $1.2 million equipment budget, the six departments residing in Darwin Hall were able to acquire new equipment for their laboratories.
Dr. Rahimi is the co-author of a proposal for establishing an undergraduate program in engineering science. Following the approval of the proposal by the CSU Board of Trustees (BOT) in March 2004, Dr. Rahimi obtained SSU approval to initiate a new department of engineering science. In their March 2004 meeting the BOT also approved a $9 million gift consisting of the $8 million Fred B. Galbreath Wildlands Preserve and $1 million endowment to SSU. This 3,500 acres preserve is one of the largest preserves in the CSU system and the University of California system. Dr. Rahimi organized faculty and administration support for acquisition of the preserve and led the negotiations since May 2003. The Galbreath Preserve will be used as a living laboratory by faculty and students of biology, geology, geography, and environmental studies for research and instruction. The Preserve will provide significant opportunities for SSU faculty to obtain environmental related grants.
Most recently Dr. Rahimi facilitated $700,000 donation as seed money for a new observatory to be located on the Galbreath Preserve and equipped with a 1-meter telescope. The cost of this project is estimated to be about $2.2 million. Fund-raising efforts are being planned at this time.
Dr. Rahimi has obtained and secured over $18 million grants, awards, and donations to the School of Science and Technology at SSU and has published many articles in the field of semiconductors and optics. Dr. Rahimi was instrumental in establishing and securing funding for the Cerent Engineering Science complex at SSU. He received a major grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation for equipping the Keck Microanalysis laboratory within the Cerent complex. Recently he has obtained a Federal grant from the US Department of Education for further improvement of the photonics, electronics, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) laboratories located at the Cerent Engineering Science Complex.
Dr. Rahimi has developed several courses and laboratories in optics and electronics at SSU and has taught a wide variety of experimental and theoretical physics courses. He has received teaching and excellence in education awards from the Pennsylvania State University, Sonoma State University, and the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the International Society of Optical Engineers and a member of Sonoma County Workforce Investment Board. Dr. Rahimi is also the director of Sonoma State’s HCI laboratory where he has supervised graduate and undergraduate design and research projects in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and lasers and holography.
Following the university’s strategic planning efforts, Dean Rahimi initiated Science and Technology’s strategic planning. Several faculty and staff task forces have been formed to help implement the desired outcome of this exercise. Dean Rahimi is also involved in the university’s strategic planning process. Dr. Rahimi has been quite successful in forging partnerships with the local community and industry, a point emphasized both by the school and the university’s strategic planning groups.