The University of Toledo is investing in its academic leadership team naming several interim deans to the permanent roles leading the University’s law, engineering and medical schools.
The new deans are Rebecca Zietlow, who has served as interim dean of the College of Law since June 2023; Dr. Mohammad Elahinia, who has led the College of Engineering as interim dean since March 2024; and Dr. Imran Ali, who assumed interim leadership of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences in July 2024.
Zietlow
“I am proud to promote these deans in recognition of their efforts to advance their colleges by supporting student success, partnering with faculty, engaging alumni and innovating our academic programs,” said Dr. Scott Molitor, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “This was a thoughtful process that included surveying the college faculty and staff who showed strong respect and support for each of these individuals. Congratulations to the newest permanent members of our academic leadership team.”
“These leaders are committed to The University of Toledo and are absolutely the right people at this time in our history to continue our positive momentum and accelerate our progress,” UToledo Interim President Matt Schroeder said. “In a time of great change for higher education, we are fortunate to have strong leaders already on our campuses who we can lean into and not miss a beat as we pursue our ambitious goals.”
Elahinia
Zietlow, Distinguished University Professor and Charles W. Fornoff Professor of Law and Values, is a constitutional law expert who joined the UToledo faculty in 1995. Her scholarly interest is in the study of the Reconstruction Era, including the meaning and history of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Zietlow received her J.D. from Yale Law School and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Barnard College of Columbia University.
Elahinia, Distinguished University Professor, joined the UToledo mechanical engineering faculty in 2004 with expertise in smart and active materials. He is a global leader in advanced manufacturing and in the use of shape memory alloys for aerospace and biomedical applications.
Ali
Elahinia holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University.
Ali, the Clair Martig Endowed Chair in the Department of Neurology, is a board-certified neurologist who specializes in epilepsy. He joined the faculty of the then Medical College of Ohio in 1996. Ali has served as a leader in medical education at a national level and is currently the vice chair of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Ali earned his medical degree from Aga Khan University in Pakistan and completed residency and an epilepsy/clinical neurophysiology fellowship at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He recently completed the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans fellowship in 2022.
