Ph.D., University of Florida, 2004
Coastal Engineering

Dr. Jack Puleo is an Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives in Coastal Engineering and Resilience and Professor who joined Florida International University (FIU) in December, 2025. He earned his Ph.D. in Coastal Engineering from the University of Florida. Before joining FIU, he was an Assistant, Associate, and Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware from 2004-2025. He also served as Associate Department Chair (2017-2020) and Department Chair (2020-2025). He was a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom at Plymouth University (2011-2012).

His research interests and expertise include

• Small-scale hydrodynamics and sediment transport in the surf and swash zones
• Coastal processes for military applications and installation resilience
• Living shoreline and hybrid solutions for coastal disaster mitigation
• Sensor development and remote sensing of nearshore environments

Dr. Puleo has authored over 100 peer-reviewed research papers in prestigious journals and supervised over 50 graduate students. He has successfully secured research funding as PI or co-PI, with support from the National Science Foundation, Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, US Army Corps of Engineers, Strategic Environmental Research Development Program, Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Office of Naval Research, Office of Naval Research Global, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Federal Highway Administration, National Fish and Wildlife Association, Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware Sea Grant, and Delaware Department of Transportation.

For more information including publications, please reference his google scholar page.