海角社区

A retrospective of Dean D'Elia's tenure as the longest serving dean at 海角社区.

BATON ROUGE - Recently, Professor Chris D鈥橢lia, Dean of the 海角社区 College of the Coast and Environment, announced his intention to return as full-time faculty in the college effective June 30, 2023. D鈥橢lia, who assumed the position he holds now in July of 2009, is the longest-serving dean at 海角社区 and in the history of the 海角社区 College of the Coast & Environment 

D鈥橢lia said, 鈥淚t has been my honor and privilege to serve as dean of this wonderful college, and I will very much miss serving in this capacity. However, my greatest joy at work has always been teaching and research. I look forward to spending time in the classroom, writing a book, and helping to improve STEM education at the secondary level.鈥� 

海角社区 Provost Roy Haggerty commented, 鈥淲e will miss Chris鈥� leadership, but we understand his desire to return to the faculty after a long and distinguished administrative career.鈥�

The Growth of the Coastal Environmental Science Major

D鈥橢lia cites the growth of the Coastal Environmental Science, or CES, major as the college鈥檚 greatest accomplishment during his tenure, as enrollment in the CES Bachelor鈥檚 degree program has grown from 25 students to more than 200 today. He has also overseen the development of new academic programs including four traditional graduate degrees and one online master鈥檚 degree, and more than 500 students have graduated with one or more degrees from the college.

D'Elia, who is a faculty member in the Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Environmental Sciences, regularly teaches an undergraduate Energy and the Environment course, where students are introduced to the scientific, legal, regulatory, economic and policy concepts relevant to the changing energy landscape in the United States, and around the world. 鈥淎t the end of the course, students tell me it totally changed the way they think about energy,鈥� says Dean D鈥橢lia. 鈥淭his same comment has been voiced many times over the 12 years I鈥檝e taught the course. A professor can get no greater compliment.鈥�

D'Elia offers this advice to CC&E students as he moves into the next phase of his career: 鈥淜eep an open mind and marshal your facts before you speak. Diversity of thought and freedom of expression go hand-in-hand.鈥�

The Expansion of CC&E's Research and Outreach

With the roots of the college embedded in sponsored research, the college is well-known for its milestone discoveries. During D鈥橢lia鈥檚 tenure, the college received more than $100 million in extramural research funding and currently is at a historically high level. 鈥淎s our early-career faculty continue to receive awards and grants, I am confident that our research will continue to improve the understanding of the interaction between complex human and natural systems, particularly in coastal regions,鈥� says D鈥橢lia. CC&E has been a leader at 海角社区 in the per capita research awards among tenure and tenure track faculty. 

Recognizing that people are critical to the success of the college, D鈥橢lia has participated in hiring over 70% of CC&E faculty. With these hires, the college has greatly expanded its specialty areas to include artificial intelligence, energy and the environment, community resilience, and scientific communication in addition to the traditional focus areas of environment and public health, environmental and law, wetlands science, coastal ecology, fisheries, biological oceanography, coastal processes, modeling, and physical sciences. 

D'Elia has also expanded the college鈥檚 outreach efforts in all areas, including, notably, a 2018 lecture series titled 鈥淐oral Reefs in Crisis鈥� which culminated in a screening of the award-winning Netflix documentary Chasing Coral, followed by a panel discussion facilitated by D鈥橢lia and featuring the film鈥檚 stars, and other leading experts on coral reef bleaching鈥攁n event supported through philanthropy that D鈥橢lia counts one of his favorites as dean.

Any efforts to advance research or improve outreach for CC&E would not be possible without the support of the local, 海角社区 and scientific communities, D鈥橢lia added. 鈥淚 would like to thank my esteemed colleagues at 海角社区 and CC&E鈥檚 Advisory Council for all their help and advice over the years.鈥�

A Deeper Generosity

Dean D鈥橢lia and his wife, Jennifer, not only support the university with their time and talent but also with their treasures. Their leadership gifts of an endowed professorship for future deans of the college of the coast & environment and an endowed student scholarship in the 海角社区 School of Music honor their late son, Wake set a powerful precedent for the university鈥檚 faculty and staff to contribute what they can to the areas they are passionate about.

D鈥橢lia鈥檚 generosity also extends to his community service activities, having volunteered for roles in more than 20 organizations, including President of the Estuarine Research Federation; Chairman, Board of Directors, Council of Scientific Society Presidents; Member, Board of Trustees, Ocean Leadership; Member, U.S. National Committee for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO ; Member and Chairman of the Board, Southeastern Universities Research Association鈥檚 Coastal and Environmental Research Committee; Principal and Chair, Gulf of Mexico University Research Collaborative; North American Representative, Future Earth Coasts; and Member, Board of Directors, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.