(May 7, 2019) – UTSA is embarking on a national search for a permanent Vice President for Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise (VPREDKE).
“This division is critical to achieving UTSA’s destination as a great public research university, and I’m immensely grateful to Bernard Arulanandam for leading our efforts in this area over the last three years,” UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said today in an email sent to faculty and staff.
As Interim Vice President, Arulanandam cultivated a strong team and implemented creative strategies to advance UTSA’s research prowess.
“His work to bring UTSA closer to accessing the National Research University Fund and attaining a Carnegie R1 classification through our Research Excellence Initiative is worthy of our sincerest appreciation, and I have encouraged him to apply for the permanent position,” said Eighmy.
The search for the new VPREDKE will be led by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy. In the coming days, Espy will appoint a search committee comprised of faculty, staff and students to take on the important responsibility of identifying the best candidate to carry UTSA’s discovery enterprise forward, further building the university’s national reputation in its signature areas of research excellence. Given Espy’s expertise in this area, the university will not be hiring an outside firm to assist with this search.
Once the position is posted, a search website will be launched and announced via UTSA Today. The bulk of the search committee’s work will take place this summer, with the intent of naming the new vice president during the fall semester.
“This next chapter in our journey toward research excellence is sure to be an exciting one,” said Eighmy.
