C. Fred Higgs III, Ph.D.

RCEL Faculty Director
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. C. Fred Higgs III joined RCEL as Faculty Director on July 1, 2016 following an international search, and was named Vice Provost for Academic Affairs for Rice University in 2018.  He holds a joint appointment as the John and Ann Doerr Professor Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Higgs earned a B.S. in MECH from Tennessee State University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He joined Carnegie Mellon 2003, where he headed the Particle Flow and Tribology Lab. In 2016, Professor Higgs was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), which in 2010 had presented him with the Burt L. Newkirk Award for researchers under the age of 40 who have made notable contributions in tribology. In 2007 he received a NSF CAREER Young Investigator Award, and in 2013 he received Carnegie Mellon’s top engineering teaching honor. Dr. Higgs enjoys “working with the RCEL team to develop tomorrow’s ethical, emotionally intelligent engineering leaders who will enter the workforce ready to deliver innovative products and technologies.”