It is with great sadness that I share news of a significant loss within our UVA Engineering community. Bill Scherer, professor and chair of the Department of Systems and Information Engineering, passed away on Wednesday, October 30.
For nearly four decades, Bill has been a foundational figure in our UVA Engineering community — a visionary leader, passionate educator, inspiring mentor and pioneering researcher who has left an indelible impact on students, colleagues and the field of systems engineering.
An expert in systems engineering, stochastic control, and business analytics, Bill has served on UVA’s systems engineering faculty since 1986 and has been passionate about advancing the theory and practice of systems thinking in diverse domains. As professor and department chair, he has led the academic and research activities of a dynamic and interdisciplinary faculty and student body. Bill has drawn upon over 35 years of experience in systems engineering, data analysis, and machine learning to teach courses on systems methodology, financial engineering, decision analytics, and stochastic optimization. He has also conducted research on systems engineering methodology, intelligent transportation systems, and business and sports analytics. His use of systems analysis in the athletic realm directly impacted programs such as UVA football.
Bill was the author and co-author of multiple publications. His co-authored book, How To Do Systems Analysis, was published in 2007 and a follow-on book, How to Do Systems Analysis: Primer and Casebook, was published in 2016. As the editor-in-chief of Systems MDPI, an international, open access journal on systems theory in practice, Bill oversaw the peer review process and ensured the publication of high-quality and impactful papers addressing complex socio-technical problems.
Bill has also consulted with various organizations on applying systems thinking and data analytics to improve their performance and outcomes. He served as Chief Data Scientist for the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. In that role he served as a thought leader to members, staff, and other professionals engaged in data analysis.
Bill has been a tireless advocate for engineering education and was beloved by his students, who knew his commitment to them was unmatched. He received several awards for his teaching and service, including an Outstanding University of Virginia Faculty Award in 2007 and a UVA Engineering Distinguished Service Award in 2023.
Bill found great joy in maintaining alumni relationships and from building connections throughout the University of Virginia. He himself was a UVA graduate three times over, having received his B.S., M.E. and Ph.D. here.
Most recently, Bill had taken on the task of rebuilding the Systems and Information Engineering department and, as department chair, worked to create a new vision for what the discipline could and should be.
When Bill received his Distinguished Service Award from the School of Engineering last fall, in recognition of his many contributions, his nominators described him as a “transformative, compassionate service leader who has changed UVA Engineering for the better.” I couldn’t agree more.
Please join me in expressing our deepest condolences to the Scherer family during this difficult time and honoring the contributions of this exceptional leader, teacher and friend.
Jennifer L. West
Dean, UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science