Open forums for VPRED finalists are Oct. 18, 20, 25 and 27

Four finalists for the position of Vice President for Research & Economic Development have been invited to on-campus interviews the weeks of Oct. 16 and 23.

UND’s next vice president will bring UND into a new era of research and position the University among the top research institutions in the nation while honoring our tradition of personalized education. From our six research Grand Challenges to other grant-funded research programs, to individual scholarship, the spirit of discovery and innovation on our campus is central to our mission and a critical element of the new UND LEADS strategic plan. Our vice president will catalyze opportunities for funding, support all academic fields across the campus, connect researchers and across disciplines, and create opportunities for our faculty, staff, and students to grow intellectually.

The schedule for campus participation is below, as well as biographical information provided by the finalists. More details, including Zoom links for open forum participation, can be found on the search website.

Mary Rezac – Oct. 17-18

• Tuesday, Oct. 17 – Student Luncheon, 12 p.m., Memorial Union, Room 139
• Wednesday, Oct. 18 – Faculty Research Discussion, 10 a.m., O’Kelly Hall, Room 343
• Wednesday, Oct. 18 – Open Forum, 11:30 a.m. O’Kelly Hall, Room 343

Dr. Mary Rezac is the dean of Washington State University’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.  The college serves more than 5,000 students on five campuses around the state of Washington.  The faculty, staff and more than 600 graduate students complete research supported by all major federal agencies supported with more than $44M in new research grants and contracts last year.

Rezac received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Kansas State University in 1987. She worked for the Phillips Petroleum Company’s research and development division before returning to graduate school at the University of Texas in Austin where she received a master’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering. In 1994, she joined the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Chemical Engineering. She was promoted to associate professor in 1998 and served in numerous administrative capacities for both the school and the college.  She returned to Kansas State in 2002 as an associate professor. She was promoted to professor and department head in 2004 and served as department head until 2009. In 2017, Rezac was named dean of Washington State University’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.

In 2007, Rezac founded Kansas State’s Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE). CSE housed K-State’s only National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship award, and provides educational program development, shared research facilities, and research project coordination for over $10 million in projects supporting more than 90 faculty and students.  She served as the interim Associate Vice President for Research at K-State promoting multi-disciplinary research efforts and expanding research engagement across campus.

Rezac has directed more than 30 graduate students and received research and teaching awards at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Kansas State. She has served on numerous policy-making groups, including the Council for Chemical Research, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the National Research Council. Rezac holds multiple patents and has co-authored over 250 publications and presentations.

David Weindorf – Oct. 19-20

• Thursday, Oct. 19 – Student Luncheon, 12 p.m., Memorial Union, Room 139
• Thursday, Oct. 19 – Faculty Research Discussion, 1 p.m., O’Kelly Hall, Room 343
• Friday, Oct. 20 – Open Forum, 11:30 a.m. O’Kelly Hall, Room 343

Dr. David C. Weindorf currently serves as Vice President for Research and Innovation at Central Michigan University (CMU). Dr. Weindorf holds a B.S. in Range Management, M.S. in Soil Science, and a Ph.D. in Agronomy from Texas Tech University (TTU).

As a research administrator, Dr. Weindorf has led CMU to records in external grantsmanship (▲32%), scholarly output (▲39%), impact of scholarly works (▲85%), and NSF HERD ranking. Dr. Weindorf was the architect of CMU’s selection as a Space Grant institution. Under his leadership, CMU achieved its first ever ranking in the QS World University Rankings. The transformational change he has brought to CMU has included the formation of a Research Advisory Council, Research Advisory Board, and the implementation of numerous software platforms for optimized enterprise management (e.g., Cayuse SP, SciVal, PURE, iThenticate, DocuSign).

Dr. Weindorf is a Fellow and Presidential Award winner of the Soil Science Society of America, having served as chair of the Pedology section (S-5) in 2016. He is a licensed Texas Professional Geoscientist. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Pedosphere and Geoderma, and on the Board of Trustees for the West and Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Fulbright Association.

As a scientist and Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Weindorf has published >200 peer reviewed research papers in top international journals germane to soil/water/compost science, environmental quality assessment, and international, translational soil taxonomy. Dr. Weindorf’s research team provided emergency response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Gold King Mine spill, the latter of which he was called upon to offer testimony to the US Senate.

Holder of four awarded patents, Dr. Weindorf is widely considered an international authority in proximal sensor characterization of soil, having authored multiple methods papers for successful proximal sensor use. He is Executive Producer of the acclaimed documentary film “Between Earth and Sky – Climate Change on the Last Frontier.” Previously, Dr. Weindorf served as Associate Vice President of Research at TTU, Associate Dean of Research and BL Allen Endowed Chair of Pedology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (TTU), and Associate Professor and Assistant Professor of Soil Classification/Land Use at Louisiana State University (LSU). Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor of Soil Science at Tarleton State University. In addition, he served as coach of the intercollegiate soils judging teams at Tarleton State, LSU, and TTU.

Scott Snyder – Oct. 24-25

• Tuesday, Oct. 24 – Faculty Research Discussion, 11 a.m., O’Kelly Hall, Room 343
• Tuesday, Oct. 24 – Student Luncheon, 12 p.m., Memorial Union, Room 139
• Wednesday Oct. 25 – Open Forum, 11:30 a.m. O’Kelly Hall, Room 343

Dr. Scott D. Snyder has spent the past 15 years supporting research and student success at two universities and the National Science Foundation. Most recently, Scott served for five years as Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Idaho State University. During his tenure, he worked closely with regional industry and the Idaho National Laboratory to provide research opportunities for faculty and students and to assist these partners in meeting critical workforce needs through curricular innovation and development. Snyder collaborated closely with faculty and numerous external partners as the college increased research expenditures by over 90%. Snyder also implemented the STEM IS U scholarship program to serve students from underrepresented groups. Scott simultaneously served for 18 months as ISU’s interim Vice President for Research during which time he developed a seed funding program aimed primarily at supporting research and creative activities in the arts, humanities and social sciences. In Idaho, Dr. Snyder served on a number of advisory boards, including Idaho’s Leadership in Nuclear Energy Commission, the steering committee for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, the Governor’s Cybersecurity Task Force and the Idaho Regional Optical Network board.

Prior to his time at ISU, Dr. Snyder served as Chief Research Officer at the University of Nebraska Omaha for nearly eight years. For five of those years, Snyder also held the position of interim Executive Director of the Peter Kiewit Institute, an engineering and information technology research and teaching institute of the University of Nebraska System. While in Omaha, Scott initiated a successful grants program to support faculty-mentored student research and teamed with regional and national partners to develop and fund a number of lasting research programs and centers in areas such as biomechanics and counterterrorism. Additionally, Snyder led federal relations efforts for the UNO campus, served as an advisor to the Strategic Advisory Group of the United States Strategic Command, was a board member of the National Strategic Research Institute and was ex officio on the board of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s technology transfer organization UNeMed.

Dr. Snyder first joined UNO in 2001 as a faculty member in the Department of Biology where he became a full professor as he mentored students and developed an international research program. During his time at UNO, Scott served for two years to serve as a Program Director with the National Science Foundation where he worked across multiple federal agencies to help initiate the Dimensions of Biodiversity grants program. Scott previously held a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and was an NSF/Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Evolution at the University of New Mexico. Snyder earned his Ph.D. in parasitology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he also earned his B.S. in biology. His M.S., also in parasitology, comes from Wake Forest University.

Timothy Akers – Oct. 26-27

• Thursday, Oct. 26 – Faculty Research Discussion, 9 a.m., O’Kelly Hall, Room 343
• Thursday, Oct. 26 – Student Luncheon, 12 p.m., Memorial Union, Room 139
• Friday, Oct. 27 – Open Forum, 11:30 a.m. O’Kelly Hall, Room 343

Dr. Timothy A. Akers, M.S., Ph.D., serves as the first Assistant Vice President for Research Innovation and Advocacy in the Division of Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University (MSU) in Baltimore, Maryland. He is also a Professor of Public Health at MSU. In 2020, he was appointed by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Energy as a founding member of the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee (NQIAC).

In 2021, Dr. Akers founded the National Quantum Literacy Network (NQLN), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focusing on workforce development for historically underrepresented groups. He currently serves as the CEO of NQLN. (For more information, visit www.quantumliteracy.org). And, in 2022, Dr. Akers and his team organized the nation’s first National Conference on Quantum Literacy, held on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. Beyond his work at MSU, Dr. Akers has held leadership positions at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he spearheaded initiatives aimed at minority health and was instrumental in developing the nation’s first national HIV/AIDS classification taxonomy of biomedical and behavioral interventions for program evaluation. He has also served in senior research administrative and scientific roles at institutions such as Kennesaw State University and Michigan State University. In addition to his academic and governmental responsibilities, Dr. Akers serves on the national advisory boards of two nonprofit organizations: Dia de la Mujer Latina and the Intercultural Center for Health, Research, and Wellness. Both organizations aim to address health disparities within Latinx/Hispanic communities.

Dr. Akers is a multifaceted innovator whose research and mentorship cover a broad array of disciplines, including public health, criminology, quantum literacy, and information science, among other areas. He is an inventor holding a patent and provisional patent in the field of biomedical technology. His pioneering theory of Epidemiological Criminology has garnered international recognition, influencing both policy and research at the intersection of public health and criminal justice. His expertise has led to various prestigious appointments, including roles within the White House Initiative on “HBCUs in Federal Contracting for an Inclusive Space Ecosystem” and as Vice Chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) workshop titled “On Leading a Lab: Strengthening Scientific Leadership in Responsible Research.” Dr. Akers has a diverse background that encompasses trade skills and military service, specifically in the U.S. Air Force Security Police, where he specialized in nuclear weapons security. As a mentor, advocate, scientist, and community-based research leader, he underscores the importance of interdisciplinary research excellence.

He has been honored with a plethora of awards, such as the U.S. Air Force’s Meritorious Achievement Award, the Visionaries Innovation Award from the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Outstanding Service Award from the CDC, among others. He holds joint B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in fields of criminology, criminal justice, urban studies, and environmental sciences. He is also the author of two seminal books on Epidemiological Criminology and has been invited to share his expertise with media outlets including the New York Times, BBC, TRT World, and the Boston Globe.