MSOE is under the guidance and leadership of Dr. Eric T. Baumgartner, who began his term as the university’s sixth president on Jan. 1, 2026.  Previously, Baumgartner served as MSOE’s Executive Vice President of Academics, a role he began in 2017 and through which he provided strategic leadership and direction for all of the academic programs and academic support units across campus. Prior to joining MSOE he served as dean of the T.J. Smull College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio Northern University.

Baumgartner previously was a senior member of the engineering staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Baumgartner also taught at UCLA and Michigan Technological University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati, a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a certificate from the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.