Dr. Randall L. McEntaffer is the dean of the College of Natural Sciences at Colorado State University. Dean McEntaffer earned his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Colorado Boulder and went on to professorships at the University of Iowa and then Penn State University. Most recently, Dean McEntaffer served as the Department Head of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State University.  

Dean McEntaffer’s research focuses on the design, fabrication, and implementation of X-ray and UV optics for space-based spectrometers, for which he is a frequent collaborator with NASA. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the NASA Group Achievement Award. He has an extensive teaching history across the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, for which he was awarded the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Collegiate Teaching Award.  

In addition to research and education, Dean McEntaffer is dedicated to community outreach. At Penn State University, he started the Rockets for Inclusive Science Education (RISE) program to provide STEM research opportunities to underrepresented high school and middle school students.  

Throughout his career, Dean McEntaffer is most proud of the people that he has mentored and empowered through his various positions who have gone onto fulfilling careers of their own. It is this commitment to service leadership that Dean McEntaffer brings to his position as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences.  

Among the accomplishments that he is most proud of are serving as a Principal Investigator on NASA suborbital rocket missions, and at home, helping to raise his four wonderful kids.