My research has focused on computational and experimental studies of electromagnetic interactions with human tissue including dielectric spectroscopy of breast tissue, and the development of microwave-frequency diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for early-stage cancer detection and treatment. Areas of interest have included microwave breast imaging and microwave thermal therapies (hyperthermia and ablation), as well as electroporation and microwave-induced thermoacoustic sensing. My earlier work included the development and application of time-domain computational electromagnetics techniques for simulating wave propagation in complex media, including biological and optical materials. I served in multiple academic leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin-Madison up until 2026 and am currently serving as the Charles H. Phipps Dean of the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University.
Brief bio:
Susan C. Hagness is the Charles H. Phipps Dean of the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. She is also the Philip D. Reed Professor Emerita of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Maria Stuchly Professor Emerita of Electrical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she served as the Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2018-2026) and as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs in the College of Engineering (2014-2017) and was a member of the faculty since 1998. Prof. Hagness has held a variety of professional society and advisory board appointments and elected leadership roles within the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, the U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the ASEE Engineering Research Council, and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association. She was selected as a Fellow in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (now the Big Ten Academic Alliance) Academic Leadership Program in 2014-15 and as a Fellow in the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership in 2025-26.
Dr. Hagness was the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) presented by the White House in 2000. In 2002, she was named one of the 100 top young innovators in science and engineering in the world by the MIT Technology Review magazine. She is also the recipient of the UW-Madison Emil Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award (2003), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Achievement Award (2004), the URSI Issac Koga Gold Medal (2005), the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award (2007), the IEEE Education Society Mac E. Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award (2007), the UW System Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award (2009), the Physics in Medicine and Biology Citations Prize (2011), the Sven Berggren Prize from the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, Sweden (2015), UW-Madison College of Engineering awards for teaching (2014), research (2018), and equity and diversity efforts (2021), Vice-Chancellor for Research honors including a Kellett Mid-Career award (2011) and a WARF Named Professorship (2024), the 2026 USNC-URSI Impact Award, and the 2026 IEEE AP-S Distinguished Achievement Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and a Fellow of the IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
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