Vijay Dhir, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Samueli School of Engineering, has made enduring contributions to engineering education and research. He received his B.S. degree from Punjab Engineering College in 1965, M.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1968, and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 1972. Dhir joined UCLA in 1974 and progressed through key administrative roles: vice chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department from 1988 to 1991, department chair from 1994 to 2000, associate dean for academic and faculty issues from 2002 to 2003, interim dean from 2002 to 2003, and dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science from March 2003 to January 2016. Under his leadership, the school expanded significantly, adding more than 90 faculty members, increasing undergraduate and graduate enrollment from 4,000 to over 5,000 students, establishing 10 major externally funded research centers, creating the Bioengineering Department, launching the No. 1-ranked Master of Science in Engineering Online program, constructing Engineering V and VI buildings, and enhancing computer science and metrology facilities.

Throughout his career, Dhir has specialized in two-phase heat transfer, boiling and condensation, thermal and hydrodynamic stability, thermal hydraulics of nuclear reactors, microgravity heat transfer, and soil remediation. He directs the Boiling Heat Transfer Lab and was principal investigator for NASA's Boiling eXperiment Facility - Nucleate Pool Boiling eXperiment (BXF-NPBX) aboard the International Space Station. His pioneering research earned election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 for contributions to boiling heat transfer and nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics and safety. Additional accolades include fellow of the American Nuclear Society, honorary membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2013, the Max Jakob Memorial Award in 2004, ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, AIChE Donald Q. Kern Award, ANS Thermal Hydraulics Division Technical Achievement Award, the 2013 John J. Guarrera Engineering Educator of the Year Award, and election to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2024. Notable publications encompass the book Phase Change Heat Transfer (2025) and influential papers like “Boiling Heat Transfer” in Annual Reviews of Fluid Mechanics (1998). Dhir's scholarship has profoundly shaped heat transfer fundamentals and applications in nuclear and space technologies.

Professional Email: vdhir@seas.ucla.edu