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Welcome to the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design (Klesse College) at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Our multidisciplinary college focuses on identifying and solving grand challenges where humanity intersects the physical world. Klesse College serves as an incubator for academic research and inquiry across disparate, yet complimentary, academic fields that work cohesively to improve the world around us. Recognized as a leader for social mobility, cultural diversity and equity of opportunity, our students are challenged to leverage their unique skills and perspectives in hands-on, experiential learning opportunities preparing them to excel in the workplace.
Fall 2021 saw the creation of Klesse College, an innovative product of UTSA’s dedication to academic excellence. Our decision to house multiple engineering programs, architecture, construction science, historic preservation, interior design and urban and regional planning under one college creates unparalleled opportunities for cross-disciplinary instruction and research. Graduates of CEID’s academic programs emerge with specialized skills and cross-functional knowledge required to succeed immediately in a fast-paced and increasingly competitive employment market.
On December 9, 2021, our college was named the Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design in recognition of a transformational $20 million gift and longtime support from the Klesse family.
Our curricula are designed around a philosophy of experiential learning. Students are challenged to start applying their acquired knowledge and skills in hands-on, real world applicable learning situations early and often. Students wishing to grow beyond the classroom are presented with opportunities to engage in research as early as their freshman year and encouraged to get involved in our vibrant student organizations.
Klesse College is a welcoming and inclusive community of students, faculty and staff. Whether you plan to join our community as a new undergraduate, are transferring from another institution, or are engaging in research at the graduate or doctoral level, you will be welcomed as a valued member of our college with personal experiences and academic potential to share.
UTSA has established a clear goal to become a top-tier research university, and has been making significant strides towards that designation. The students and faculty of Klesse College have been, and will continue to be, an integral part of that growth. Since the year 2000 our annual research expenditures in the College of Engineering and Integrated Design have increased more than 20-fold.
Our faculty and students are committed to addressing twenty-first century challenges such as adapting to and combating climate change, emerging medical complexities and solutions, the congregation and migration of populations and increasing the utility of and connection with our natural and built environments. World-leading faculty, industry-leading facilities and an ambitious and inquisitive student population has seen Klesse College continue to be a hotspot of academic discovery and innovation.
As San Antonio’s flagship research institution, UTSA students can access a wealth of internship and employment opportunities in the private, non-profit and government centers. San Antonio has long been a military hub and continues to attract investment in sectors such as healthcare and bioscience, aerospace, IT and cybersecurity, and energy.
In choosing to pursue your academic, personal and professional goals at UTSA as a member of Klesse College, you will be presented enormous opportunities to make an impact on the world around you, at a rapidly advancing institution, in the US’s 7th largest city. I hope you will join us and help to shape the technologies and spaces of tomorrow.
JoAnn Browning, Ph.D. , P.E.
Dean, Margie and Bill Klesse Engineering and Integrated Design
JoAnn Browning, Dean and David and Jennifer Spencer Distinguished Chair, Professor of Civil Engineering. Ph.D. Purdue University. P.E. Kansas.
A leader in structural engineering and concrete research, Dr. Browning was named Dean and David and Jennifer Spencer Distinguished Chair of the UTSA College of Engineering in August 2014. Previously, she was a faculty member at the University of Kansas for 16 years, and served 2 years as Associate Dean of Administration. While at KU, Dr. Browning twice was awarded the Miller Award for Distinguished Professional Service (2004 and 2011) and was the 2012 recipient of the Henry E. Gould Award for Distinguished Service to Undergraduate Education. In 2015 she was name a Purdue Distinguished Woman Scholar.
Dr. Browning has been active in the engineering community, locally as President of the Kansas Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and nationally with ACI, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE), and the American Society of Civil Engineers. She has served on the Board of Directors of CUREE and ACI (beginning in 2015) and on the ACI 318 Building Code Committee.
Her own research interests include structural engineering, earthquake engineering, engineering materials, and reinforced concrete design and analysis. She is actively involved in research to improve the durability of concrete bridge decks through studies of corrosion protection systems and low-cracking high performance bridge decks. She also is active in research to improve the design and performance of concrete buildings and bridges subjected to earthquake motion. She received the American Concrete Institute’s Young Member Award for Professional Achievement in 2008 and was named an ACI Fellow in 2009.
Browning worked with Dea Greenhoot and the KU CTE, developing procedures to affect cultural transformations in the way engineering courses are taught. This included recruiting teaching faculty, post-docs, and education faculty mentors as well as re-designing classroom spaces to better host learning environments. Browning taught civil engineering mechanics and structural engineering design and analysis courses.
The College of Engineering and Integrated Design prepares students for lifelong learning and careers in engineering, architecture, construction science, historic preservation, interior design, and urban and regional planning professions. It has been ranked for five years in a row among the top 10 best graduate schools for Hispanics. Service activities focus on outreach to K-12 students to support the STEM pipeline. Faculty members and students conduct research leading to innovative technologies in areas such as information security, biomedical systems, multifunctional materials, engineering infrastructure, manufacturing, computational modeling, energy, environmental technology, cultural sustainability, and urban and regional planning.