KU News Release

KU names new associate vice provost for research and graduate studies

LAWRENCE — Joseph Heppert, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kansas, will assume new duties in the fall as an associate vice provost for research and graduate studies and a vice president of the KU Center for Research Inc.

He will initially serve part time in that role, becoming full time on Jan. 1, and will report to Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies.

“Joe has a strong science research background, administrative experience and an appreciation for KU’s teaching mission,” said Warren. “He is familiar with several of the major KU research centers and his work has received federal, foundation and industry funding. I look forward to having Joe as part of the senior management team in research and graduate studies.”

Heppert will succeed George Wilson, the Higuchi Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, who announced last fall that he would be stepping down as associate vice provost at the end of 2009. The two will work together during the fall semester.

The associate vice provost shares oversight of research administration, strategic planning and other responsibilities. Heppert will have specific oversight of the Higuchi Biosciences Center, Information Telecommunication and Technology Center, Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas Biological Survey, Animal Care Unit and all University Core Lab Facilities. He will also have primary responsibility for issues related to research space and infrastructure.

Other associate vice provosts in research and graduate studies are Joshua Rosenbloom and Sara Rosen. Both are vice presidents of the KU Center for Research, and Rosen is also dean of graduate studies.

Heppert joined the KU faculty in 1985, following two years of postdoctoral work at Indiana University. He became a full professor in 2000 and chair of the department in 2005. Also in 2000, he became director of KU’s Center for Science Education.

Heppert’s academic background includes a bachelor’s in chemistry from San Jose State University and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been particularly active at the national level in the work of the American Chemical Society and is a member of its Presidential Task Force on the Future of Science Education.

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