Lelli Van Den Einde joined the UC San Diego Athletics Department as its Faculty Athletics Representative in August 2024.
Van Den Einde, a former NCAA Division I field hockey student-athlete at the University of Michigan, replaces outgoing FAR Cliff Kubiak, who served in the role for 17 years.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mandates that every member school designate an individual to serve as the FAR. In general, the main charge of the FAR is to be a liaison between the university - including faculty - and the athletics department. The FAR also represents the school in NCAA and conference dealings.
A 1994 Michigan graduate with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Van Den Einde earned a Ph.D in Structural Engineering from UC San Diego in 2001. She served as Assistant Director of NEESit Operations with the San Diego Supercomputer Center from 2004-07 before joining the faculty of the Jacobs School of Engineering as Assistant Teaching Professor in 2008.
After a 4-year stint as Associate Teaching Professor, Van Den Einde was named a Teaching Professor in July 2019 and currently serves the university and its students in that role.
She also serves as President and Co-Founder of eGrove Education Inc., a company that produces tools to teach STEM students often underdeveloped freehand sketching and spatial skills.
