Peter Hollenbeck

Peter Hollenbeck, was named vice provost for faculty affairs (VPFA) on July 1, 2016, after serving as associate vice provost for faculty affairs for two years. In his role as VPFA, Hollenbeck provides strategic direction for a wide array of faculty-focused initiatives including recruitment, retention, resource allocation and faculty development. He also oversees faculty policies, including grievances, conflicts of interest and commitment, and promotion and tenure. Hollenbeck reports directly to the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity.

Hollenbeck is a professor of biological sciences and former associate head of the department at Purdue. He is a cellular neurobiologist whose laboratory has for many years studied the life cycle of mitochondria in the nervous system. He has been awarded two “Seeds for Success” from Purdue in recognition of attracting large external research awards. He has served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the NIH, and as a member and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tourette Syndrome Association.

Hollenbeck has received the Top Teacher award from the College of Science and the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, the University’s highest undergraduate teaching honor. He is an inducted member of Purdue’s Teaching Academy and the Book of Great Teachers. He is also the faculty advisor for a Purdue club sport, the Runclub, and was named Purdue Club Sports Advisor of the Year in 2010 and 2014.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Purdue, his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and conducted his postdoctoral research as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow at the Medical Research Council—Cell Biophysics Unit in London, England. Hollenbeck was an assistant and associate professor at Harvard Medical School prior to joining Purdue in 1997 as an associate professor of biological sciences.