Following a national search, Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., announced
today that Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D. has been named vice chancellor for
research for the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Rosenquist
has been serving as interim vice chancellor for research since July.
The appointment is a landmark event, Dr. Maurer said, as it marks the
first time UNMC has ever had a vice chancellor for research. The appointment
is effective Feb. 1, pending approval by the University of Nebraska Board
of Regents at its Jan. 19 meeting.
With our research funding growing significantly, this is a crucial
position at UNMC, Dr. Maurer said. Im confident Dr. Rosenquist will
provide the leadership and vision needed to develop our campus research
enterprise to achieve our goal of ranking among the leading research institutions
in the United States.
While serving as interim vice chancellor, he demonstrated his outstanding
abilities and has already had significant success in building a research
infrastructure on campus, directing the UNMC Tobacco Settlement Biomedical
Research Development program and developing a program statement for the
Research Center of Excellence.
He knows the campus. He knows the city. He knows the state. And he
knows the research business. Hes a perfect fit for this position.
Dr. Maurer praised the work of the search committee headed by William
Berndt, Ph.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs. Other members of the
search committee included Ira Fox, M.D., associate dean for research and
development, UNMC College of Medicine, Ada Lindsey, Ph.D., dean of the
UNMC College of Nursing, and John McClain, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor,
academic affairs.
Dr. Berndt said the committee reviewed about 20 applicants for the position
and brought in four finalists for interviews.
A prolific researcher, Dr. Rosenquist currently has more than $8.3 million
in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Earlier this year, he
received a five-year, $5.6 million program project grant from the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study the causes of congenital heart
defects. For several years, he has served as a grant reviewer for the National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Its an honor to be selected as the first vice chancellor for research
for UNMC, Dr. Rosenquist said. I appreciate the confidence Dr. Maurer
has placed in me and look forward to serving on his senior administration
team. This is an exciting time to be a part of the research enterprise
at UNMC with the Research Center of Excellence under construction and the
Tobacco Settlement funding greatly enhancing our biomedical research.
UNMC has set a strategic goal of increasing research funding by 30 percent
each year. In 2000-01, UNMCs research funding exceeded $41.3 million.
Based on first quarter results in fiscal year 2001-02, Dr. Rosenquist said
it looks like UNMC will make its goal of increasing research funding by
30 percent this year.
The vice chancellor for research becomes the third vice chancellor post
at UNMC. The other vice chancellors are Dr. Berndt and Don Leuenberger,
vice chancellor for business and finance.
In addition to directing the Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research
Development Program, the vice chancellor for research will oversee several
other major components of UNMCs research enterprise, including direction
of the Nebraska Research Initiative, the UNMC Research Council, the
UNMC Research Board, and the Comparative Medicine program. The vice chancellor
for research also oversees Sponsored Programs Administration, which provides
support for the grant application process, and along with the vice chancellor
for academic affairs has joint oversight of the Office of Regulatory Affairs.
Dr. Rosenquist, 59, joined UNMC in 1992 as chairman and professor of
the Cell Biology and Anatomy Department. In 1999, he was appointed director
of research development and was named to the von Housen Professorship.
Before coming to UNMC, Dr. Rosenquist had 22 years of experience in academic
medicine, including four years at the University of Southern California
School of Medicine and 18 years at the Medical College of Georgia.
He attracted national and international attention in 1998 when he headed
a research study which determined that the key ingredient in non-prescription
cough medicine can produce a variety of birth defects and fetal death in
an animal model, thus suggesting that pregnant women might want to avoid
using cough medicine. A developmental biologist, Dr. Rosenquists research
has focused primarily on the causes of congenital heart defects.
Under his leadership, the UNMC Cell Biology and Anatomy Department was
honored with the University-wide Departmental Teaching Award in 1997. The
$25,000 award recognized the department for its strong commitment to the
education of students and for its contribution to teaching excellence in
the University of Nebraska System. The department was recognized for several
areas of excellence, including having a large number of outstanding teaching
award recipients; exceptional performance by students in national standardized
examinations; faculty participation in innovative curricula; and the success
of graduates in the graduate training program.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Dubuque in
1964, his masters degree in 1967 from New Mexico Highlands State University,
and his doctorate from Louisiana State University in 1969.