Vice provost position created to transform biosciences
In fall 2o15, U-M President Mark Schlissel announced that a new campus-level biological sciences position will be created to lead the effort to make the University of Michigan “a powerhouse in the biosciences and a global leader in discovery and societal impact.”
According to the president, the vice provost for biological sciences position will be filled by a senior bioscientist, with broad creative vision and extensive leadership experience, who will chair a coordinating committee comprised of leaders from the many units that do life science and related research.
Schlissel also noted that new faculty positions will be added and $150 million will be allocated by the new vice provost and the coordinating committee with the goal of catalyzing the development of research and educational programs that tap into U-M’s great breadth.
“I believe the key to our future success and leadership is our potential to be more than the sum of our many excellent parts.”
– U-M President Mark Schlissel
The new vice provost for biological sciences will report directly to Provost Martha Pollack, will also work closely with the president and will serve as “the overall leader of one of our most critical academic priority areas,” Schlissel said. A biosciences coordinating committee will serve as a forum for schools and colleges to discuss and coordinate their recruitment, space and infrastructure plans so they can strategically leverage one another’s efforts.
One of U-M’s great advantages in the biosciences is its world-class schools of medicine, dentistry, kinesiology, pharmacy, public health, nursing, engineering and natural resources and environment, as well as its outstanding academic medical center, the Life Sciences Institute and large biological sciences departments in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, Schlissel noted.
“Few, if any, other institutions can match our scale and breadth in this arena,” he said. “I believe the key to our future success and leadership is our potential to be more than the sum of our many excellent parts. If we can develop a way to invest and collaborate strategically across this broad expanse of disciplines, our potential for discovery, societal impact and outstanding bioscience education would be unmatched.”
