Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Martinis named vice chancellor for research and innovation

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Susan Martinis has been named the vice chancellor for research and innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Martinis had served in an interim role since September 2017.

The appointment was announced today in a message from Chancellor Robert Jones to the university community. Martinis succeeded Peter Schiffer in the role.

“When I first announced that Professor Martinis would serve as interim vice chancellor for research, I said she had earned a reputation at Illinois as a collaborative scholar and consultative leader who gets work done,” Jones said. “That reputation has only grown in the past two years. She has been a strong and innovative leader for our Illinois research enterprise, and we are thrilled to see her take on the role.”

As interim vice chancellor for research, Martinis oversaw the evolution of three large-scale initiatives: the Cancer Center at Illinois and the Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences became the eighth and ninth universitywide research centers, while the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities is on track to become an Illinois Board of Higher Education-approved institute. She also led the transition of the oversight of Research Park and EnterpriseWorks from the University of Illinois System to the Urbana-Champaign campus, was named the senior leadership point-of-contact for the Discovery Partners Institute and the Illinois Innovation Network, and chairs the Chancellor’s Economic Development Advisory Group.

Martinis also oversaw strengthening of the business infrastructure that supports the Illinois research community, uniting pre- and post-award functions under one administrative umbrella and implementing an electronic proposal-routing system.

She earned a B.S. in biochemistry from Washington State University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Illinois. Martinis trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, then worked to launch the startup biotechnology company Cubist Pharmaceuticals until moving to her first academic position at the University of Houston in 1997.

Martinis joined the Illinois faculty in 2005 as an associate professor of biochemistry. In 2009, she advanced to professor and department head; in 2015, she was named the Stephen G. Sligar Professor in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, a professorship she will continue to hold.

Editor’s note: For additional information, contact Melissa Edwards, executive director of strategic research communications, 217-265-5446, email mme@illinois.edu. 

Read Next

Life sciences Photo of Michael Ward standing in tall grass on a riverbank.

How are migrating wild birds affected by H5N1 infection in the U.S.?

Each spring, roughly 3.5 billion wild birds migrate from their warm winter havens to their breeding grounds across North America, eating insects, distributing plant seeds and providing a variety of other ecosystem services to stopping sites along the way. Some also carry diseases like avian influenza, a worry for agricultural, environmental and public health authorities. […]

Announcements Marcelo Garcia, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering.

Illinois faculty member elected to National Academy of Engineering

Champaign, Ill. — Marcelo Garcia, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Social sciences Male and female student embracing on the quad with flowering redbud tree and the ACES library in the background. Photo by Michelle Hassel

Dating is not broken, but the trajectories of relationships have changed

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — According to some popular culture writers and online posts by discouraged singles lamenting their inability to find romantic partners, dating is “broken,” fractured by the social isolation created by technology, pandemic lockdowns and potential partners’ unrealistic expectations. Yet two studies of college students conducted a decade apart found that their ideas about […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010