DONALD BIRX NAMED VICE PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH
FOR UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM, UH
HOUSTON, Aug. 17, 2006 – Donald L. Birx has been named
vice chancellor for research for the University of Houston System
and vice president for research for the University of Houston.
His appointment was announced today by UH System Chancellor and
UH President Jay Gogue. Donald J. Foss, senior vice chancellor for
academic affairs for UHS and senior vice president for academic
affairs and provost for UH, has served as interim since July 2006.
Birx is expected to assume this position in September 2006. The
appointment was approved by the UH System Board of Regents at its
meeting this morning. Birx has most immediately been the interim
vice provost/president for research and professor of physics at
New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, N.M. since 2004,
while simultaneously serving as president and founder of PSI, a
new corporate entity at NMSU for technology development and incubation,
since 2002. He joined NMSU in 1996 as director of the Physical Science
Laboratory, a 500-person, university-based applied R&D organization.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Birx join the University of
Houston System and the University of Houston,” Gogue said.
“We are confident Dr. Birx will make a great addition to our
system and university and are looking forward to the benefit of
his guidance and leadership in continuing to foster UH’s outstanding
research capabilities, as well as taking them to the next level.”
Birx brings with him a proven ability to craft and implement an
organizational vision through development and integration of research,
education, strategic alliances, mentoring and organizational transformation.
He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of
Dayton, an M.B.A. in finance and M.S. in biophysics from Miami University
in Ohio, and a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of
California, Berkeley.
“What impressed me the most was that everyone I met –
across the spectrum of faculty, students, staff and administration
– deeply believes in the potential of UH, understands its
key role in the community and economic development, and is united
in pursuing the vision that UH will be a leading research university,”
Birx said. “The mix of capabilities, cutting across the arts,
sciences, engineering, law, education, humanities, medicine and
the library, is truly impressive and lends itself to significant,
cross-disciplinary endeavors. While I saw some of this already underway,
these efforts will hopefully further be encouraged through the formation
of multidisciplinary research clusters that support individual researchers
as well as centers and institutes.”
Prior to his time at NMSU, Birx spent 19 years at Systems Research
Laboratories Inc. in Dayton, Ohio, starting out as a senior systems
engineer and working his way up to vice president and team leader
of technology and new ventures. He is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma,
Sigma Xi and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
His committee memberships include the New Mexico Research Council
and the Council of Research Centers of which he was chair. He was
named a New Mexico “Top 25” Tech Leader (2002) and was
the recipient of many awards while at NMSU, including the Davidson
Memorial Award (2002), Distinguished Service Award (2001) and President’s
Award for Vision (2000).
Growing up in Philadelphia, Birx enjoys skiing and biking. He and
his wife, Linda, have three daughters and one son – Sierra,
Donnie, Amy and Christy.
Birx was selected following a national search chaired by B. Montgomery
Pettitt, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor
of Chemistry and director of the Institute for Molecular Design
at UH.
“There are many universities that aspire to be leading research
institutions, but my sense is that UH has the sum of parts, the
strategic location and the people committed to make it happen,”
Birx said. “It is a distinct pleasure to join such a team.”
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
The University of Houston System is the state’s only metropolitan
higher education system, encompassing four universities and two
multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University
of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive
research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year
undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate
programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University
of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master’s-level
institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort
Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System
includes KUHF-FM, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical
radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation’s first educational
television station.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom
at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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