As part of a new Science Council to direct research at the University and at Argonne National Laboratories, Thomas Rosenbaum has been appointed Vice President for Research and Argonne National Laboratory, and Keith Moffat has been appointed Deputy Provost for Research.
The Science Council, composed of Provost Richard Saller, the deans of the Biological Sciences Division and Physical Sciences Division, and the Director and Chief Scientist of Argonne, will coordinate and promote scientific research at the two facilities.
With the University’s scientific focus shifting towards areas at the crossover of traditional sciences, as marked by the under-construction Interdivisional Research Building, both Rosenbaum and Moffat were praised for their interdisciplinary approaches to science.
“I remain deeply committed to our scientific enterprise and in particular to an ever stronger and more effective scientific relationship with Argonne,” said President Don Michael Randel. “I know that Tom will be effective in this endeavor, and I look forward very much to working with him on it.”
Rosenbaum, the James Franck Professor in Physics, begins his five-year appointment July 1. He will chair the Science Council and will be responsible for scientific research throughout the University as well as running Argonne, the first US national laboratory, which is operated for the Department of Energy by the University.
“I am excited by the University’s commitment to scientific inquiry that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries,” Rosenbaum said. “In the months to come, we anticipate making some first-rate appointments in programs of particular interest to both University and Argonne researchers,including the Computation Institute, the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, and the Nanoscience Consortium.”
As Vice President for Argonne, Rosenbaum will work closely with Hermann Grunder, Argonne’s director, to oversee research and engineering on more than 200 projects ranging from studies of the atomic nucleus to global climate change research. Argonne employs approximately 4,200 with an annual operating budget of $465 million.
Rosenbaum succeeds Robert Zimmer, who becomes Provost of Brown University July 15. Zimmer held the position of Vice President for Research and Argonne National Laboratory and Deputy Provost. Rosenbaum and Moffat will assume two separate positions.
Rosenbaum’s research deals with the atomic-level physics of electronic, magnetic, and optical materials. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Harvard University and an M.A. and Ph.D. at Princeton University, Rosenbaum conducted research at Bell Laboratories and IBM Watson Research Center.
He joined the University faculty in 1983 and has since directed the Materials Research Laboratory and the James Franck Institute.
In addition to serving with Rosenbaum on the Science Council, Moffat will assist the Provost with science faculty issues and administering University research.
“I’m confident that Keith’s familiarity with interdisciplinary research in the sciences at the University and at Argonne will serve us well in his new capacity as deputy provost,” Saller said. “I’m looking forward to working more closely with him on these matters.”
Moffat received an undergraduate physics degree at the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D. in biophysics at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge University. He joined the University in 1990 after serving on the faculty of Cornell University.
Moffat’s research interests in structural biology include the application of synchrotron radiation to time-resolved biological crystallography. He directs BioCARS, the structural biology arm of the Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS), which Moffat also chaired from 1993 through 2000.
