KU News Release

March 4, 2008
Contact: Mary-Margaret Simpson, Life Span Institute, (785) 864-0697; or Karen Henry, Life Span Institute, (785) 864-0756.

KU researcher named interim director of Life Span Institute

LAWRENCE — John Colombo, associate director for cognitive neuroscience at the Life Span Institute and professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, has been named interim director of the institute.

A veteran administrator, faculty member and researcher, Colombo will lead one of the nation’s largest research programs on human development and developmental disabilities. He assumes the position held by Steve Warren, who became vice provost for research and graduate studies on March 1.

“John’s research and leadership at KU and experience as an associate director at Life Span make him an ideal choice for the position,” said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Richard Lariviere. “His familiarity with the vast scope of the institute’s research and training activities and his scientific stature will ensure that the critical work of the institute will continue during the interim period.”

Colombo came to KU in 1982 as a research associate and then principal investigator for the institute. As associate director for cognitive neuroscience, he has led KU’s multidisciplinary efforts to study the neural process that underlies behavior, thought, language and learning.

“John Colombo is ideally suited to serve as the interim director of the institute,” said Warren. “We are fortunate to have his leadership during this transition.”

Colombo’s research interests are in the developmental cognitive neuroscience of attention and learning in infancy and early childhood. In 2002, his research on infant nutrition and cognitive development with Susan Carlson, professor of dietetics and nutrition at KU Medical Center, helped convince the two major infant-formula makers to add nutritional compounds present in a mother’s milk to their products. He currently holds, or is a key participant in, grants from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation.

He has been a member of the faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since 1988. From 2001 to 2004, he served as associate dean of the Graduate School. He earned his doctoral degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1981.

A national search for a permanent director will be chaired by Mabel Rice, the Fred and Virginia Merrill Distinguished Professor of Advanced Studies and chair of the child language doctoral program, with interviews planned for late summer.

The Life Span Institute includes 12 centers and more than 140 programs and projects located on the Lawrence and medical center campuses and in Kansas City, Kan., and Parsons.

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