Chris Brace, professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, will join the Graduate School as associate dean starting in June.

In partnership with the dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for postdoctoral affairs, associate deans provide institutional leadership for graduate education across the university, advancing master’s and doctoral student policies, graduate program evaluation, educational and career outcomes, and awareness of national trends in professional development and funding support.

Brace will serve on the Graduate School’s leadership team and on the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee. The school enrolls over 11,000 master’s and doctoral students and awards more than 750 doctoral degrees annually.

Commitment to graduate education and extensive mentoring experience inform Brace’s qualifications for the role of associate dean. Previously, he served as assistant dean for graduate affairs in the College of Engineering and directed the Graduate Engineering Research Scholars program.

Brace is a principal facilitator for the nationally recognized Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences (CIMER). He held the role of faculty co-director of the Delta Program, which became part of the Graduate School in 2021, and has been a longstanding member of the advisory committee for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, also now housed in the Graduate School.

Brace holds affiliate faculty appointments in medical physics and electrical and computer engineering and currently serves as vice chair of biomedical engineering.

His research focuses on the development and clinical translation of energy-based therapies, particularly microwave ablation for cancer and other diseases. This work integrates computational modeling, design optimization, device realization and testing, medical imaging, and clinical translation.

Principal investigator or collaborator on multiple NIH-funded research projects, Brace has authored more than 140 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and is an inventor on over 30 patents.

Brace’s entrepreneurial and professional contributions include co-founding Neuwave Medical, a medical device company; election as fellow within the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and recognition as distinguished investigator within the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research.

A two-time UW–Madison alumnus, Brace holds PhD and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and physics from UW–Milwaukee.