Alumni Profile
Gary Ford

B.S. Electrical Engineering '67
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering '76

They say the only thing you can count on is change. That’s a good thing if you ask Gary Ford. For most of his career, Ford has made it his business to anticipate change and harness its power for the benefit of his students.

The College of Engineering was only one year old when Ford first arrived as a student. Since then, he has seen the field, the school and the community change and grow, with an increasing focus on cutting edge research.

In his 30-plus years at Davis, Ford has instructed and advised undergraduates, administered academic and research programs, and taught 22 different courses, six of which he developed. He has received awards for both his teaching and advising, and Ford considers his greatest personal accomplishment to have been the contributions he’s made to the education of thousands of engineers.

As Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for the College of Engineering, Ford has been a very strong advocate for his students, especially in diversity and accessibility issues. He has been actively involved with a wide variety of programs designed to broaden the undergraduate engineering experience, including CAMP (California Alliance for Minority Participation), MORE (Mentorships and Opportunities for Research in Engineering), and Student Development and Recruitment (SD&R).

Ford was recently appointed Associate Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies for the entire university. In this position, Gary Ford will continue to help students begin their journey so they, too, can prepare for the inevitability of change.