Crowgey said Kempel’s enthusiasm makes him ideal for the acting dean position, which officially was approved by the MSU Board of Trustees last Friday.

Kempel, who previously was associate dean for research in the College of Engineering, is filling the position formerly held by Satish Udpa, who began serving as the executive vice president for administrative services in March.

Theodore Curry, associate provost and associate vice president for academic human resources, said MSU might not begin the search for a permanent dean until the beginning of the fall 2013 semester. If the new dean is selected from outside MSU, they realistically will be selected and begin service in July 2014 or the beginning of the fall 2014 semester, he said.

If the decision is an internal selection, the new dean could begin earlier, Curry said. The faculty-student search committee will consider both domestic and international candidates, Curry said.

During this time of transition, Udpa said there is no better faculty member than Kempel to take over the post until a permanent dean is chosen.

“Most faculty members are good at one or two things, but he is good at everything he touches,” Udpa said in regards to Kempel’s research, teaching and outreach experience.

Kempel came to MSU as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering t in 1998, also served as the associate dean for special initiatives in 2006 and began as associate dean of research in 2008.

Kempel said during his time as acting dean, he hopes to continue the success of the college by accumulating more research initiatives and continuing to grow the college’s student enrollment.

A project Kempel currently is involved in is the installment of the Bio Engineering Facility that also was given an authorization to proceed by the Board of Trustees on Friday. He said he hopes to continue partnerships with other colleges, such as the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the College of Human Medicine and the College of Natural Science, among others.

“They’re big shoes to fill — Satish has been a very good, big leader for our college while he was dean,” Kempel said. “It’s my intent to continue down the path that we laid out and continue to expand it.”

Mechanical engineering sophomore Jacob Steinman said he was notified about the change in an email sent to students in the College of Engineering. He said he is happy for a new person to take the reins of the college and bring new ideas to the table, but hasn’t noticed any differences yet.

“It is a nice change,” Steinman said. “It’s always a good thing to see, especially when it’s in my own school.”