First candidate for vice chancellor for research to present Friday


Professor Cheryl D. Conrad, assistant vice president of research development and research integrity officer at Arizona State UniversityLAWRENCE — Professor Cheryl Conrad, assistant vice president of research development and research integrity officer at Arizona State University, will make a public presentation Friday, Sept. 14, as a candidate for vice chancellor for research at the University of Kansas.

She is the first of four candidates for the position who will make public presentations during their respective campus visits. Her presentation will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Lied Center Pavilion. It will be followed by a half-hour reception.

Conrad’s research studies the mechanisms by which stress influences brain plasticity and resilience. She specifically examines stress’s neurobiological ties to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Conrad, who first joined Arizona State in 1997 as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, has been promoted and held a number of leadership roles during her tenure. She was named area director of Behavioral Neuroscience in the department from 2006 to 2009. From 2009 to 2011 she was associate dean for research in the Division of Natural Sciences of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Between 2011 and 2014, Conrad was associate dean of research and facilities for the College. Then, in conjunction with a leadership change, she became associate dean for research in the College, where she oversaw seed funding programs, proposal sign-off oversight, research analytics and predictions, and more. In 2016, she was selected to be assistant vice president of research development and research integrity officer for ASU. She has been a visiting scholar at Leiden University, the Netherlands; and New York University.

She is a prolific author and presenter whose scholarly efforts have appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, Brain Research, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Behavioral Brain Research, Behavioral Neuroscience and more. She edited “The Handbook of Stress: Neuropsychological Effects on the Brain,” published in 2011 by Wiley-Blackwell Publishers.

She has been recognized for her teaching and mentoring numerous times. In 2005 she was named to Honors Disciplinary Faculty of the Barrett Honors College at ASU. She received the Outstanding Achievement & Contribution Award from the Commission on the Status of Women at ASU and the Outstanding Teacher award, twice, from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She also has been nominated for the Professor of the Year by the Arizona State Parent’s Association, ASU’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor and the ASU Faculty Women’s Association’s Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.

Conrad has a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and bachelor’s degrees in biology and chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Neuroendocrinology Laboratory at the Rockefeller University. She holds professional membership in a number of organizations, including the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Women in Science and the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities Council on Research.

The vice chancellor for research search committee — led by Kristin Bowman-James, distinguished professor of chemistry — invites students, faculty and staff to attend the presentations and provide feedback of their impressions. Each candidate will prepare a presentation on the topic: “Vision and Strategies for the Evolution of the Research Enterprise at KU.” The program will allow time for audience questions.

The university will release information about each candidate at least one business day before the candidate’s visit.  The schedule of other candidate presentations is:

  • Candidate 2 presentation: 10-11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, Lied Center Pavilion.
  • Candidate 3 presentation: 10-11 a.m. Sept. 27, Lied Center Pavilion.
  • Candidate 4 presentation: 10-11 a.m. Oct. 5, Lied Center Pavilion.

Candidate presentations will be recorded and available for viewing online after the final candidate has appeared on campus. Evaluations of all candidates are due by 4:30 p.m. Oct. 8.

The vice chancellor for research leads the KU Office of Research and advocates for research on and off campus, implements research integrity requirements, and, through the KU Center for Research (KUCR), oversees the administration of research grants and contracts primarily for the Lawrence campus. The vice chancellor also has oversight of activities related to technology commercialization and business and industry outreach. The vice chancellor reports to the provost and executive vice chancellor and works closely with the chancellor and the senior leadership team at KU.

Wed, 09/12/2018

author

Jill Hummels

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Jill Hummels

Office of the Provost

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