After 5 years in frozen Ithaca in the ORIE Department (BS and MENG) and 5 years in ice-cold Ann Arbor in the IOE Department (PhD), Jeff moved to the sunshine of the University of Arizona (UA). Since 1985, Jeff has had the honor to educate thousands of engineering students in his role as a Professor, then Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and since 2010, Dean of the College of Engineering.

Prior to beginning his academic career, Jeff worked at Vector Research (Ann Arbor, MI) and Bell Telephone Laboratories (Holmdel, NJ). He owns a small consulting company - Silver Oak Research - that specializes in emergency response system design (they have designed ambulance systems in ten metro areas in North America).

Jeff is a recipient of the Shingo Prize for excellence in manufacturing (outstanding paper award, 1994), and spent a year at the US Military Academy as a visiting professor in the Department of Systems Engineering. He had leadership roles in projects; "ELITE - A New Undergraduate Program in Engineering" funded by the NSF, and was Director of the College’s BA in Engineering Program. His textbook The Design and Analysis of Lean Production Systems (with Ron Askin) won the "Outstanding Book in Industrial Engineering Award" from the Institute for Industrial Engineering in 2003. He started the UA’s Engineering AP program which is now in 29 high schools and reaches some 450 students annually.

Jeff is married to Donna Goldberg (she had the same last name before getting married) and they have four children. Jessica (BS '04, MS Pace U '06), Emily (BS '09, PhD '14), and Brandon (BA '12) all graduated from the UA, while Ben (BS '11, MS '13, PhD '15) graduated from Ohio State. They have no intention of leaving a place where the weather forecast is stuck on “clear, hot, and sunny,” and one can golf close to 365 days per year.

At the time of our 40th reunion, Jeff is serving as Interim SVP of Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Arizona. When the hiring process is complete, he will retire from his faculty position, get a chance to do more recreational travel, and spend more time with his wife Donna, their children, and grandchildren.