Dr. Bjorn Halvorsen

Bjorn Halvorsen oversees the seven colleges, the Graduate School, and academic policy as provost, a role he has held since 2016 after eight years chairing the Mechanical Engineering program.

Halvorsen still teaches one section of Statics & Mechanics of Materials each fall, a practice he has kept through his entire administrative career. “An administrator who does not teach forgets what the building is for,” he says, and colleagues report he means it literally — he grades the exams himself.

Education

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University; M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota