University Times

A short list of five candidates for the new position of senior vice chancellor for research has been submitted to the chancellor, N. John Cooper, dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, told the University Times.

Cooper, who chaired the search committee for the position, offered few details on the finalists, except to say the committee reviewed a “spectacular group of candidates” from diverse backgrounds.

“The finalist stage is all in the chancellor’s hands now,” he told the University Times on Monday.

The senior vice chancellor for research will report to the chancellor and will oversee the University’s research support operations and administration, research compliance, research computing infrastructure, economic development and innovation programs.

Members of the University community offered input on the qualities and qualifications they desired in a new top administrator for research during four town hall sessions held on campus last fall. (See Oct. 13 University Times.)

Details on the position are at www.pitt.edu/svcresearch.

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Former University Senate president Michael Spring wants the finalists for the position to make public presentations on campus. At the Feb. 3 Senate research committee meeting, Spring encouraged the committee to ask the administration to identify the finalists and give them the opportunity to make presentations to the campus community.

While candidates’ names often are kept confidential in order not to jeopardize their current position, neither is it unusual for the final candidates to be named, Spring said.

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In other business at the research committee’s meeting:

• Anthony DeArdo, faculty member in the Swanson School of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, shared his experience as an innovator in research of interest to the steel industry. In the 1990s he was among the researchers who developed a lead-free “green” steel that was more easily machined than leaded steel. He stressed the importance of understanding intellectual property implications in mature industries, such as the steel industry.

• Lina D. Dostilio, who joined the Office of Community and Governmental Relations in January as assistant vice chancellor for Pitt’s community engagement centers, has been invited to speak at the committee’s April 7 meeting.

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The research committee’s next meeting is set for 1 p.m. March 3 in 156 Cathedral of Learning.
—Kimberly K. Barlow