Ronald Sack, dean of UNLV's Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, has resigned to return to teaching in the department of civil engineering, according to UNLV Provost Raymond Alden.

Mechanical engineering department chairman Darrell Pepper will serve as interim dean until the position is filled. Pepper has been the chair of the mechanical engineering department since 1996 and a member of the faculty since 1992.

A national search to find a permanent replacement will be conducted and is expected to take more than a year.