Plan B Propels Engineer to Higher Ed Leadership

In a career that has included both academia and the private sector, Dr. Teik C. Lim is now leading the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) into the future.

Growing up in Malaysia, Lim wanted to skip college, join the military and pursue the dream of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, he could not meet the 20-20 eyesight requirement. Thankfully, he moved on to Plan B.

“I then thought, because I was very good in math and science, perhaps I could become an engineer and design an airplane for others to pilot,” said Lim, who joined the NJIT in July 2022 as its ninth president and a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering. He attended a school that specialized in science and while still a teenager in 1983 came alone to the United States to pursue higher education.

Dr. Teik Lim“My family did not have much money, but with the help of a generous undergraduate scholarship from Michigan Tech, I was able to support myself through college and become the first member of my family to earn a college degree,” said Lim. “That began my pathway forward and my love of engineering.”

After receiving his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University, his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University, Lim entered the private sector as an engineer at Structural Dynamics Research Corporation. He was subsequently a research scientist at The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research.

In 1998, he began teaching at the University of Alabama, and then joined the University of Cincinnati in 2002, where he rose to full professor, department head, associate dean for graduate studies and research, and ultimately dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Prior to his NJIT presidency, Lim was the interim president of the University of Texas at Arlington after having served the university as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“Throughout all of my higher ed positions — department head, dean, provost and now president — I have continued to be involved in research by advising graduate student thesis or dissertation work,” said Lim, who has been extensively published and presented at more than 100 conferences. “I also kept up with the published literature, attended technical conferences and engaged with industry. In fact, because of these involvements, I have been able to continue my professional engineering registration in several states.