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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

New vice president for research announced

IU President Michael McRobbie announced Jorge José as the selection for the University’s vice president for research Monday. The selection will be subject to approval by the IU board of trustees and the board will decide by May 8.

“The search committee reviewed a large amount of applicants and narrowed it down to a few,” IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said. “President McRobbie reviewed those and made his decision based on interviews, credentials and experience.”

José received his doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in physics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in his native city of Mexico City. Since then, José has worked at Brown University, the University of Chicago, Rutgers University and Northeastern University. José is currently vice president for research at the University at Buffalo, which is the largest campus of the State University of New York.

At Northeastern University, José was chairman of the physics department and founded the Center for the Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems. The center worked with researchers from different scientific and engineering areas to enhance interdisciplinary education for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Through his different knowledge and employment, José has gained relevant experience that he can use to advance the research program at IU, said John Talbott, assistant vice president of research administration at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, who was a member of the search committee.

As the vice president for research, José would be responsible for advancing, organizing and encouraging research. José would also report to McRobbie and would be a member of the President’s Cabinet.

“He’ll be able to help our research faculty come up with proposals that will have a better chance of being funded,” MacIntyre said. “He will know how to package grant applications, and he will be of a lot of assistance to our faculty in submitting stronger grant applications.”

Faith Hawkins, who upon José’s appointment would be the new vice president’s chief of staff, said José will help the University advance among top research universities.

“The biggest thing will be that he will help us more effectively collaborate across disciplines, schools and campuses,” Hawkins said. “That kind of leverage will boost us into the next level of top research universities. To really move into the top tiers a university has to be thinking big and have all the parts of the university working better and having José here will help us accomplish that.”

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