Third vice chancellor for research finalist to visit campus

LAWRENCE – The third and final candidate for the position of vice chancellor for research at the University of Kansas will visit campus this week.

Jim Tracy, special assistant for research compliance at the University of Kentucky and professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry within the UK College of Medicine, will be on campus Dec. 17-19. He will give a public presentation on the topic of “Strategies for Raising Research Stature during an Era of Declining Funding” at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Lied Center Pavilion.

Candidate Rich Hichwa, senior associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Iowa, gave his presentation Dec. 11. Candidate Mary J.C. Hendrix will give her presentation at 11 a.m. today, Dec. 16, at the Lied Center Pavilion.

Additional information and CVs of all three candidates are available here. All presentations will be recorded on video and posted online after the last presentation is complete.

The vice chancellor for research at KU oversees 10 research centers, two state surveys, two affiliated centers and a number of core research laboratories. The position also serves as president of the KU Center for Research Inc. – the nonprofit research foundation responsible for the administration of research grants and other external awards – and shares overall responsibility for KU Innovation and Collaboration, KU’s bicampus technology commercialization office. Mary Lee Hummert has been serving as KU’s interim vice chancellor since March 2014.

Jim Tracy

Jim Tracy is currently the special assistant for research compliance at the University of Kentucky and professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry within the UK College of Medicine.

Prior to serving as special assistant, he was the vice president for research from 2007-14, reporting directly to the president and serving on the President’s Council. In that role, he oversaw the administration and operation of the university’s $360 million research enterprise and provided senior leadership for supporting existing areas of research strength and developing new research initiatives. Faced with declining federal research investment, he led a team working to expand UK’s partnerships with private industry and business. He coordinated the activities of various administrative units, such as sponsored programs administration, proposal development and research communications. The office responsible for intellectual property protection and technology transfer reported to Tracy, as did the Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center, the on-campus business incubator.