Pamela Abshire has been appointed chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with her term beginning on September 1, 2025.
Before joining Stony Brook, Abshire was a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She joined that department in 2001 and also held appointments with several research institutes including the Institute for Systems Research, Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, Maryland NanoCenter, Maryland Robotics Center, and the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program.
Abshire completed her undergraduate studies in physics at the California Institute of Technology. She worked as a research engineer at Medtronic, Inc. before earning both her master’s degree and doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University. During her graduate work she collaborated with Professor Andreas Andreou in the Sensory Communications and Microsystems Lab.
Her research program is internationally recognized for its interdisciplinary approach to integrated circuit design informed by biology. Abshire specializes in VLSI circuit design and bioengineering, focusing on performance-resource tradeoffs in both natural and engineered systems. Her work includes hybrid devices using CMOS technology along with MEMS, optoelectronics, microfluidics, and biological components.
Andrew Singer, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University said: “Professor Abshire is an outstanding scholar and visionary leader. We look forward to seeing our Department of Electrical Engineering grow under her leadership and innovation.”
Abshire has contributed extensively to academic service within technical communities as well as to government agencies such as serving on advisory committees for the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2018 for her work on CMOS biosensors. Other honors include an NSF CAREER award, IEEE Northern Virginia Section’s Volunteer of the Year Award, University of Maryland’s Invention of the Year for “Cell Sensor Based Pathogen Detection,” recognition as a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at Maryland in 2021, among others.
She co-founded The Academic Life STEM mentoring program which has conducted workshops across conferences and institutions. Her scholarly output includes over 160 publications and three patents.
Abshire succeeds Leon Shterengas who served as interim chair.