Search for new vice chancellor for research hits pause

The search for a new UW–Madison vice chancellor for research and graduate education has been placed on hold.

After the search for a new chief research officer proved unsuccessful, Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the search would be renewed in the fall semester.

Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education Norman Drinkwater has agreed to continue serving in the post for the foreseeable future.

The UW–Madison vice chancellor for research and graduate education oversees one of the nation’s largest and most diverse academic research landscapes. The job entails oversight of a $1.2 billion research portfolio across numerous disciplines. It includes a more than $60 million annual funding program and responsibility for 17 cross-campus research and service centers. Research policy, oversight and compliance also fall within the VCRGE purview. Critically, the vice chancellor for research and graduate education is responsible for the Graduate School, which serves 9,200 graduate students in 158 master’s and 109 doctoral programs.

“I’m grateful for Norman’s willingness to remain in this job for the time being and for the excellent job he has done over the past year in this position,” Blank says. “I’ll be talking with him and others about how we re-initiate a search.”