After a summer of screening applications, the search committee for West Virginia University’s next vice president for research is ready to begin campus visits for finalists.

Dr. Vincent T. Remcho, Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Studies and Administration in the College of Science at Oregon State University, will be the first to visit the campus on Sept. 12 and13. Other candidates will be announced as their visit nears.

Dr. Remcho earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Virginia Tech and spent four years at WVU as an assistant professor before moving to Oregon State in 1998. Oregon State is classified as a Research University (Very High Research Activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Click here to download a copy of Dr. Remcho's CV.

Three general sessions are scheduled for members of the WVU community to meet Dr. Remcho during his visit. He will give a short presentation about supporting and growing the research enterprise at WVU and then take questions from the audience.

The schedule is:

  • Monday, Sept. 12, 9:30 a.m. Room 101A&B, NRCCE
  • Monday, Sept. 12, 2:15 p.m. 2116 Health Sciences Center
  • Monday, Sept. 12, 4:45 p.m. Gold Ballroom, Mountainlair

Dr. Remcho is co-founder of both GeneSpace Inc., and Trillium FiberFuels Inc. in Corvallis, home of Oregon State. GeneSpace is a microtechnology company focused on automated, benchtop systems for replicating specific portions of DNA that carry important genetic information and Trillium is a startup company focused on the production of ethanol from plant based materials for fuel.

At Oregon State, Dr. Remcho has taught more than 30 quarter courses subjects ranging from introductory chemistry to advanced graduate courses in separations and microfluidics. Since 1992, he has taught more than 20 one-credit continuing education courses and workshops on fundamental and advanced separations, including many offered by the American Chemical Society. Over his career he has also mentored more than a dozen undergraduate students from across the disciplines of chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy and chemical engineering in research. He has also mentored more than 30 graduate students working in his research group and served on more than 50 Ph.D. student committees and more than 10 master’s student committees.

Dr. Remcho has participated in securing more than 30 grants totaling $10.5 million over 17 years. He has been the principal investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Army Research Laboratory, National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy. He has collaborated on research with colleagues from physics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, biochemistry and biophysics, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, environmental engineering and molecular biology.

In his role as Associate Dean in Oregon State’s College of Science, he has helped secure support to build an entirely new electron beam imaging, lithography and surface analysis center for the University. In this effort he developed successful proposals to the NSF and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to secure funds in excess of $2 million for new instrument acquisitions.

He has more than 60 refereed publications, more than 100 publications in conference proceedings and eight book chapters. He has been invited to lecture at more than 50 national or international conferences and invited to provide more than 30 seminars for professional audiences over his career. In the local community, Dr. Remcho conducts chemistry demonstrations for local schools and participates in outreach activities such as OSU Discovery Days.

His awards and honors include the Milton Harris Award in Basic Research; a W.M. Keck Foundation Science & Engineering Program Award: editorial board member, Electrophoresis; NSF CAREER Award; and College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award as selected by students.

One colleague said Dr. Remcho is the “fairest, most balanced person I know. He would be a proponent of strong, diverse programs across the campus.” Another, describing him as a people person, said he works very well across departmental and institutional boundaries, and is one who “sees administration as a way to advance the work of the researchers.” Colleagues also noted he has great respect for all people at all levels in the process of pursuing and winning grants. He has been described as a highly regarded colleague, as well as a “big picture thinker,” and as having “infectious enthusiasm.”

The committee is searching for a replacement for Curt. M. Peterson as vice president for research and economic development. Peterson announced in March that he will retire effective with the naming of his replacement.

Since 2007, funding for sponsored programs at WVU has increased 28 percent, climbing more than $39 million to a record $177.7 million in fiscal year 2010.

-WVU-

jf/09/06/11

CONTACT: Dr. Fred King, Search Committee Chair
304.293.4611; Fred.King@mail.wvu.edu

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