Matt Andrews, Executive Associate Dean and professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the College of Science, has taken a new position as Director of NSF EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) and NIH Institutional Development Award (IDeA) for the state of Nebraska beginning July 1, 2019. He will split his time equally between the administrative role and his research program on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus.
College of Science Dean Roy Haggerty will decide what to do with the position after consultation with the College leadership team and consideration of the College’s budget.
Andrews joined OSU in August 2016 as Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Administration from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), where he was the McKnight Presidential Professor of Biology and served as head of the department.
His research is focused on the molecular biology of hibernation in mammals, including the application of hibernation strategies to human medicine. His current work involves the development of hibernation-based therapies that can help humans survive life-threatening blood loss, and hibernation-based methods to prolong the storage time of organs used for transplantation.
In late June, Andrews will depart OSU and Corvallis for his new position at Nebraska EPSCoR, where he will lead a team charged with enhancing the state’s research capacity and competitiveness in biomedical research and with increasing its K-12 scientific literacy through STEM education and outreach. Current Nebraska EPSCoR programs include the $20 million Center for Root and Rhizobiome Innovation funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
“I want to thank Matt for his work and for being an outstanding member of my executive leadership team,” said Haggerty. “I am very sorry to see him leave the College and OSU, but I would never want to prevent someone from following beneficial opportunities to make an impact.”
The opportunity to make a statewide, multi-institutional impact is what attracted Andrews to the position at the University of Nebraska. He will lead coordination and administration of statewide efforts to obtain federal projects from NSF and NIH as well as promote STEM education through EPSCoR’s Young Nebraska Scientists programs aimed at middle school and high school students.
“I have enjoyed the absolutely wonderful people I have worked with in the College of Science, in the dean’s office, the department heads and the staff and faculty,” said Andrews. “After nearly three years, I got to know the majority of our faculty and I have really enjoyed that.”
