The University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) announced Dr. Damian Dechev will join the university as Chair of the Department of Computer Science, pending final administrative processing.
Dr. Dechev joins UH from the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he served as Professor of Computer Science and founded the Algorithmic Research for Essential Asynchronous Computing (AREA 67) Lab. “I am honored to join the University of Houston as Chair of Computer Science," said Dr. Dechev. " Computer science is at an inflection point. As AI moves from virtual tools to systems that perceive, reason and act in the real world, the opportunities for our students and faculty to drive impact across health, robotics and intelligent systems, quantum information, secure and trustworthy computing and the broader sciences are extraordinary.”
Throughout the national search process, Dr. Dechev earned the unanimous endorsement of the search committee for his strong alignment with the UH mission and thoughtful engagement with faculty, staff, and students. “Computer Science is poised for its next phase of growth and impact under Dr. Dechev's leadership,” said NSM Dean Gregory Dudley. “I look forward to working with him to strengthen the department’s role across NSM and UH in emerging areas such as high-performance computing, AI/ML, and quantum-related technologies, while also advancing student success, faculty excellence, and broader community engagement."
National Leadership and Elite Expertise
Dr. Dechev’s foundational training includes a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, where he specialized in concurrency and multiprocessor programming under the advisement of Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup.
From 2021 to 2025, Dr. Dechev directed national research portfolios within the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Computing and Communication Foundations. His leadership in launching high-impact initiatives earned him two consecutive NSF Director’s Awards for Superior Accomplishments. In 2023, he was recognized for pioneering the NSF Global Centers Program, a landmark international initiative funding interdisciplinary, use-inspired research centers that unite U.S. and global partners to tackle grand challenges in science.
As an active researcher, his forward-looking work in distributed systems, high-performance computing (HPC), and scalable AI infrastructure is backed by millions in funding. This includes an active, multi-year principal investigator grant from the DOE and Sandia National Laboratories—an engagement spanning more than a decade that has delivered practical tools for high-performance computing performance monitoring, and that continues to be renewed as the work advances.
At UCF, Dr. Dechev demonstrated a strong commitment to institutional growth and mentorship. He built multi-year research collaborations with Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and industry; and, working with the UCF Office of Undergraduate Research, he pioneered an Early Research Participation Initiative to integrate undergraduate students into tier-one labs, along with strategic mentoring programs to help junior faculty secure federal funding.
NSM hopes his multi-faceted expertise will heavily advance student success, faculty excellence, and broader community engagement as he guides the Department of Computer Science into its next phase of rapid growth.