In the 1980s and 1990s, millions of youngsters dreamed they could “be like Mike” — legendary Chicago Bulls basketball player Michael Jordan.
Growing up in China, Shuang (Sean) Luan was one of those who idolized Jordan. His admiration for Michael Jordan led him to attend graduate school in the United States.
Luan started on August 1 as the associate dean for academic affairs and community engagement in the School of Engineering. However, before he focused on academia, his dreams were centered on basketball.
“I wanted to be a basketball player, and I was hoping that I would grow to be 6’4’’ or 6’5’’ but I only made it to 6 feet,” he said.
Even though he realized his hoop dreams might not materialize, he remained captivated by Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China in 1998, he pursued graduate school in the U.S., targeting the Chicago area to be close to his favorite player and team.
“I applied to University of Chicago and Notre Dame,” he said. “Notre Dame was the only one who gave me a lot of attention, so I chose them.”
Notre Dame proved beneficial academically (although 1998-99 was marked by an NBA lockout, and Jordan retired in 2003, which Luan admits was disappointing).
He earned his master’s and Ph.D. in computer science from Notre Dame in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He has been a professor in the UNM Department of Computer Science since 2004 after being recruited by Professor Deepak Kapur.
“When I got the call from Deepak, I’d never heard of New Mexico!” Luan said. “But when I got off the plane in Albuquerque, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a lot nicer than Chicago!’”
His research and teaching focus has been on biomedical engineering challenges using computational geometry.
Luan appreciates New Mexico's climate and culture but also values UNM's unique community. Having attended graduate school at a prestigious private institution like Notre Dame, he noticed significant differences between such universities and UNM.
“So many of our students are first generation; many have families; some even have two jobs while going to school,” he said. “So when I see them succeed, it’s so much more satisfying.”
During his two decades as a computer science professor, Luan has numerous examples of UNM's transformative impact on students. For instance, he recalls a restaurant cook who found his calling after taking a computer science course despite being told college wasn't for him. The student graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Another student served as an enlisted soldier in Iraq before pursuing higher education; eventually earning a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering with Luan's guidance during part of his research.
“They are doing amazing work,” he said. “I think our students benefit from talking not just about academics but about life. I feel that many students don’t realize their potential. I love to help them see this.”
This desire to help students achieve their dreams attracted him to the associate dean position.
“It’s not how you start in life; it’s how you end up,” Luan said.
Luan acknowledges that following Charles Fleddermann's retirement this summer leaves big shoes to fill after Fleddermann held the senior associate dean position for over two decades. Nonetheless, Luan is eager to embrace his new role while frequently consulting with Fleddermann.
Regarding goals for his position, Luan aims to collaborate more with entities like the Engineering Student Success Center and academic advisors to ease students' transition into engineering fields. He is particularly interested in improving students' readiness by providing time for acquiring essential skills such as calculus necessary for engineering or computer science degrees while expanding programming skills especially related to AI.
In addition long-term plans include starting an undergraduate degree program in bioinformatics which could attract broader demographics including females and underrepresented groups within engineering fields
Luan resides with his wife—a pharmacist at UNM Health Sciences Center—and their two children aged twelve seven respectively In spare time enjoys playing basketball chess
He will maintain regular office hours spending half time Centennial Engineering Center room3071 can reached sluan@unm.edu
