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Alec D. Gallimore

Dr. Alec D. Gallimore is the Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Duke University. He is also the Alfred J. Hooks E ’68 Distinguished Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science of the Pratt School of Engineering. Prior to his appointment at Duke in 2023, Dr. Gallimore held multiple leadership roles over his more than 30-year career at the University of Michigan, including seven years as the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering.

Dr. Gallimore is responsible for the academic enterprise at Duke, including supporting Duke faculty members and students in their teaching, learning, and research activities. Key priorities include strengthening discovery and translation through the Duke Science and Technology initiative; supporting inclusive excellence; advancing Duke’s global engagement; developing Duke’s strategy for artificial intelligence (AI); and expanding crucial philanthropy through the “Made For This” campaign. In 2024, he launched two programs designed to foster open inquiry and constructive dialogue from a broad range of perspectives: the Provost's Initiative on the Middle East and the Provost's Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry and Belonging. 

Dr. Gallimore is a leader in the field of advanced spacecraft propulsion and founded a laboratory at the University of Michigan that is developing the plasma drive system that may ultimately propel humans to Mars. His work has been recognized by lifetime achievement awards such as the Wyld Propulsion Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Ernst Stuhlinger Medal from the Electric Rocket Society, and induction into the National Academy of Engineering. In 2024, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the AIAA, its highest distinction. The first recipient of this award was Orville Wright in 1933.

Before beginning his career in academia, he earned his credentials as a rocket scientist first at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he received his BS degree in aeronautical engineering, and then at Princeton University, where he received his MA and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering with a focus on plasma physics and advanced spacecraft propulsion. He is the author of over 360 publications, has worked in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Glenn Research Center, and has been the advisor to 44 Ph.D. students and 14 master’s students.
 

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