Sebastian van Delden

Sebastian van Delden received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Central Florida in 2003. He started his career at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where he was awarded tenure and was promoted to associate professor. He also became director of research for the campus and helped to introduce several new faculty and student research support initiatives. At USC Upstate, he received annual awards for teaching, for research and for service to the university. With a current research interest in visual and voice-guided industrial robotics, van Delden has about 30 articles published in peer-reviewed, scholarly journals or conference proceedings.

In 2012, van Delden became the department head of computer science and industrial technology at Southeastern Louisiana University. At Southeastern, he managed five disparate degree programs (computer science, information technology, engineering technology, industrial technology and occupational, safety, health & environment) in the department, which had approximately 1,100 students and 30 faculty members.

Van Delden recently served as chair of the Department of Computer Science at the College since 2015. He has lead four ABET/ATMAE accredited processes in his career, helped to secure numerous industry partnerships and introduced several new academic programs. He serves on the Foundation Board for the Charleston Digital Corridor and is the public relations chair for the Rotary Club of Charleston – Breakfast.

As interim dean, van Delden is focused on branding the mission of the School of Sciences and Mathematics as one that strives for excellence in experiential learning, enabled through a broad-based, personalized liberal arts education. Experiential learning provides students experiences beyond the traditional classroom/lab environment in order to prepare them for graduate school or the workforce. Such experiences include undergraduate research, internships, study-abroad opportunities, service learning and other related activities. In May 2018, approximately 90 percent of Sciences and Mathematics graduates at the College reported performing at least one experiential learning activity and van Delden would like to strive towards 100 percent.