Search advisory committee appointed for executive vice president for research

Unfinished Block P on a snowy winter day

An advisory committee has been named for the national search for a successor to Purdue’s executive vice president for research, Karen Plaut, who will retire June 30 from the university.

Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science and professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences, will chair the committee, which consists of the following members:

  • Andrew Bean, associate vice president of finance and accounting
  • Brooke Beier, senior vice president of Purdue Innovates, Purdue Research Foundation
  • Alexandra Boltasseva, the Ron and Dotty Garvin Tonjes Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Daniel Castro, dean of Purdue Polytechnic Institute
  • Clint Chapple, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry
  • Zhihong Chen, the Reilly Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering; the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director of Birck Nanotechnology Center
  • Gebisa Ejeta, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Agronomy
  • (Chair) Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science; professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences
  • Richard Kuhn, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Science
  • Philip Low, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Purdue University’s Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery
  • Sorin Matei, associate dean for research and graduate education, College of Liberal Arts; professor of communication, Brian Lamb School of Communication
  • Catherine (Cammie) McBride, associate dean for research, College of Health and Human Sciences; Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Science
  • Sunil Prabhakar, vice provost for faculty affairs; professor of computer science; interim dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies
  • J. George Shanthikumar, the Richard E. Dauch Chair in Manufacturing and Operations Management; Distinguished Professor of Management
  • Joey Wallace, associate vice president for research development; professor of biomedical engineering

Plaut, who has served as executive vice president for research since January 2023, announced her retirement last week.

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