Dr. David Gerdes is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and is a professor of Physics at CWRU. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Carleton College (where he also competed in track and cross country), a Master of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University, and earned his PhD in physics from the University of Chicago.

As dean, Gerdes leads 21 departments across the college, along with major centers and programs including the Baker-Nord Institute for the Humanities, the Schubert Center for Child Studies, the Baker Nord Emerging Scholars Program, the Dittrick Medical History Center and the Leonard Gelfand STEM Center (K-12 programming).

A native of Hudson, Ohio, the historic birthplace of Western Reserve College, Gerdes joined CWRU in 2025 after 27 years on the faculty at the University of Michigan. He served as chair of the U-M physics department for six years, and also chaired the interdisciplinary Michigan Society of Fellows during his final year.

Gerdes has earned wide recognition as a researcher, teacher and academic leader. He began his career as an experimental high-energy physicist. In 1992, he joined the Collider Detector at Fermilab experimental collaboration and was part of the team that discovered the top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle, for which he was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

He also has established himself as a respected solar system astronomer and astrophysicist who studies distant small bodies orbiting in the farthest reaches of the solar system. He and his collaborators, which include his students, have discovered hundreds of new solar system objects. Gerdes is credited with discovering the possible dwarf planet 2014 UZ224, nicknamed DeeDee, which at the time of its discovery was the second-most-distant known object in the solar system.

His research has been funded by the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute. In 2024, the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid “208117 Davidgerdes” in recognition of his contributions to NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.

During his tenure as chair of physics at U-M, Gerdes focused on recruiting and promoting outstanding faculty, modernizing and enhancing the curriculum, increasing donor support, expanding research opportunities for undergraduates, and strengthening the department’s commitment to inclusive excellence. In addition, he worked closely with the leadership of the university’s research division to establish an interdisciplinary Quantum Research Institute.

Gerdes has received numerous teaching awards, including the University of Michigan’s highest award, an Arthur F. Thurnau professorship. He is particularly proud of the accomplishments of his undergraduate research collaborators, many of whom made important original contributions, published first-author papers and won national awards.

In his spare time, Gerdes enjoys cycling, homebrewing, beekeeping, and playing with his two silly retrievers, Rupert and Junie Bee.