John Daniels

John Daniels serves as vice chancellor for the Division of Research. The division strives to advance the quality, diversity and growth of research at UNC Charlotte.

Daniels, a member of the faculty since 2001, served as chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2012-22. He also served as program director in the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation where he was responsible for research within geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, engineering education, engineering research centers and a variety of cross-disciplinary programs.

The textbook he co-authored with H-Y. Fang, “Introductory Geotechnical Engineering: An Environmental Perspective,” was released in 2006. He also has over 100 publications in various journals, book chapters, conference proceedings and technical reports. He has worked for TRC Environmental Corp. as a project engineer and is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in North Carolina. He was elected Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2018, in part for advancing the concept of engineered water repellency to increase the resilience and sustainability of geotechnical systems in civil infrastructure. He leads an active research program in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the U.S. NSF.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and a master’s and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Daniels serves on the board of the Sullenberger Aviation Museum as well as the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology. Daniels volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America and Nativity of the Holy Virgin
Orthodox Church.

Daniels became interim vice chancellor in November 2022, and he was appointed to the permanent role in November 2023.