Chris Swan is Dean of Undergraduate Education in the School of Engineering and an associate professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He represents the School of Engineering on the Tufts University Cabinet on Diversity and Inclusion, work inspired by his education research on broadening STEM participation through service-learning. He is also a senior fellow in Tisch College of Civic Life and serves as the faculty representative on its diversity and inclusion committee.
Previously, Swan was Associate Dean of Tisch College (2016), Associate Dean of Undergraduate Curriculum Development in Engineering (2012–2015), and chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2002–2007). He earned his ScD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT (1994) and BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (1984, 1986).
His research focuses on reuse strategies for waste materials, particularly combining fly ash from coal plants with waste plastics to create synthetic lightweight aggregates—an innovative alternative to traditional sand and gravel.