[ Email | Share ] CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Peter E. Schiffer, the associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives at Pennsylvania State University, will become the vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, pending approval of the board of trustees at its May 31 meeting in Chicago.
Schiffer, a professor of physics at Penn State, will take over at Illinois Aug. 16. The position has been held on an interim basis most recently by Debasish Dutta, the dean of the Graduate College. He was preceded by Bob Easter, now the president-designate, and by Ravi Iyer, a professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise said Schiffer will fill a key role on the university's leadership team.
"He's an accomplished scientist with the administrative experience that will allow him to lead our efforts to increase our broad research and discovery mission, and to enhance funding from the federal government, foundations and corporations," Wise said.
"I know his guidance will benefit faculty members across campus, as well as the many students who work with faculty members on their scholarship."
Schiffer earned his doctorate in physics at Stanford University in 1993 and his Bachelor of Science (with distinction) at Yale University in 1988. He has been a professor of physics at Penn State since July 2003. He was named the university's associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives in April 2007.
He has led numerous committees and task forces and has achieved numerous honors, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (1997) and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (1998). He was named a fellow of the American Physical Society (2004) and won the Faculty Scholar Medal in the Physical Sciences at Penn State (2006). He also won the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Teaching Excellence at Penn State (2008).
Schiffer's wife, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, also will be coming to the U. of I., as a faculty member in the department of chemistry. She is the Eberly Professor of Biotechnology at Penn State. She earned her doctorate in chemistry at Stanford University in 1993.
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