PennDesign Dean and Paley Professor Frederick Steiner has named Megan Ryerson associate dean for research as part of a wider initiative to advance and diversify The School of Design’s growing research agenda. Dr. Ryerson is an assistant professor of city and regional planning who has a secondary appointment in the department of electrical and systems engineering at Penn Engineering. She has chaired the research committee at PennDesign since 2017.

Dean Steiner said, “Along with an impressive track record in her own research, Professor Ryerson brings tremendous energy and vision to her new role.”

Dr. Ryerson and her team design algorithms and methods to address cross-disciplinary transportation planning challenges, such as the introduction of autonomous vehicles and new infrastructure design strategies for pedestrian and bicycle safety to improve accessibility and mobility. She is the research director of the Mobility21 Transportation Research Center, a national University Transportation Center, a senior fellow at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a member of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. Dr. Ryerson serves on the Board of Advisors of The Eno Center for Transportation, the Program Committee for the International Conference on Research in Air Transportation, two Transportation Research Board committees, and the Board of Advisors of the Los Angeles Metro Office of Extraordinary Innovation. In 2015, Dr. Ryerson was named “Woman of the Year” by the Women’s Transportation Seminar Philadelphia Chapter. She received a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010 and a BS in systems engineering from Penn in 2003.