San Jose State University Professor Belle W.Y. Wei has been named dean of the College of Engineering, putting her among a rare group of women in the United States who lead engineering schools.

Provost Marshall Goodman said Wei's appointment, which he announced this week, is testament to her work as chairwoman of the electrical engineering department, where she has raised millions of dollars to attract and retain faculty members, expand the curriculum and offer scholarships.

``She is the reason electrical engineering is the powerhouse department on this campus,'' Goodman said.

Wei, 48, has served as interim dean since August of 2002, succeeding Don Kirk, who retired. Her salary will be $156,000 a year.

Wei is one about 18 female deans in 345 engineering schools across the country, according to the American Society for Engineering Education. Several people familiar with the nation's engineering programs said she may be the only Asian American woman in charge of an engineering college in the United States.

Wei said among her priorities is helping develop a college strategic plan to better prepare students for the changing world of engineering, which is becoming more global and interdisciplinary.

Born and raised in Taiwan, Wei immigrated to San Francisco with her parents, who were seeking political stability for their family. She was a brilliant student who had just graduated from high school and was headed for the prestigious medical school at Taiwan University.

With no connections to draw on, her father, a retired general, found work in a restaurant, as did her mother, who had not worked outside the home before. Wei waited tables to help the family.

``We had the experience of a typical immigrant family,'' she recalled. ``The kids help the parents resettle because they don't speak the language.''

Facing an uncertain future in a new country, Wei for the first time began soul-searching about what she wanted to do. Before long she was studying biophysics at the University of California-Berkeley, then went on for a master's degree in applied physics in the engineering division at Harvard University.

Engineering, she thought, ``is very practical. It is analytical, and you can develop solutions to solve problems.''

Later she returned to UC-Berkeley for a doctorate degree in electrical engineering and computer science. A brief stint working at Ford Aerospace convinced her teaching was a better fit.

Few women studied engineering at that time. Still, Wei said, ``the gender issue has never been an issue for me.'' She married a fellow engineering student and always got on well with ``the guys.'' She and her husband have a 23-year-old-daughter who is in the Peace Corps.

For many years, female engineering deans were extremely rare, but in the past six years they have been appointed at Purdue, Duke, Michigan State, Johns Hopkins and University of Washington. Female engineering deans tend to be super-achievers, said Frank Huband, executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education, ``and you also have to have a president or provost willing to take a chance and do something different.''

Wei arrived at San Jose State as an assistant electrical engineering professor in 1987 and became the department's chairwoman in 1998.

``Belle has been very, very strong in promoting development of student excellence and faculty excellence, and she's put a lot of money there to encourage it and reward it,'' said Louis E. Freund, professor of computer, information and systems engineering.

She worked intently to understand what Silicon Valley employers need and formed industry relationships that have paid off for the college.

Such partnerships are only a means, not an end in themselves, Wei likes to say.

``We work with corporations,'' she said, ``but at the end of the day we answer to students.''