Susan Margulies, former assistant director of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Engineering and a distinguished professor at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has been appointed vice provost for research and innovation. She will report directly to Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver when her appointment begins June 1. Margulies will also be a professor of biomedical engineering within Vanderbilt's School of Engineering.
"Susan Margulies is a world-renowned scholar and leader whose career reflects the full arc of research excellence-from foundational discovery to real-world impact," Raver said. "Her deep understanding of the federal research enterprise, her success building ambitious cross-sector partnerships and her commitment to supporting researchers at every stage make her uniquely suited to lead Vanderbilt's next era of innovation and discovery."
Margulies will be tasked with defining a vision for-and driving-the next generation of growth in Vanderbilt's research enterprise, championing sponsored research and accelerating the process of discovery, from concept to funding to implementation and commercialization. She will be instrumental in working with university leadership to forge innovative partnerships with funding agencies, foundations and private industry.
"I am inspired by Vanderbilt's vision to realize its motto 'dare to grow' by increasing research and scholarship across disciplines and career stages, and I am drawn to the campus culture of radical collaboration," Margulies said. "As vice provost, my focus will be on strengthening the systems, partnerships and catalysts that allow faculty and teams to pursue bold ideas and move them efficiently from concept to funding to implementation to impact."
HELMING INNOVATION IN ENGINEERING
Before accepting her new role at Vanderbilt, Margulies was assistant director of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Engineering. The NSF ENG provides more than 40 percent of federal funding for fundamental research in engineering at academic institutions, which has led to innovative nano to macro technologies and sustainable impacts in health, agriculture, clean energy and water, resilient infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, quantum systems and many other areas. There, she oversaw an annual budget of nearly $800 million and a team of more than 150, leading to the launch of new funding mechanisms to support high-risk, high-reward projects that expand engineering frontiers. To catalyze priority areas at scale and speed, Margulies developed dozens of partnerships with federal agencies, industry and philanthropic organizations.
In addition to her role at NSF ENG, Margulies was a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, jointly housed in the College of Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and the School of Medicine at Emory University; she holds tenure in both institutions. She is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Injury Biomechanics and served as chair of the department from 2017 to 2021. During her term, Coulter BME research activity tripled, national rankings rose to first in the nation, faculty size increased, space expanded and fundraising increased by $41 million. These leadership accomplishments built upon Margulies' 24 years as a scholar, educator and leader at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a scholar, Margulies is internationally recognized for pioneering studies to identify mechanisms underlying brain injuries in children and adolescents and lung injuries associated with mechanical ventilation, leading to improved injury prevention, diagnosis and treatments. She has launched numerous training and mentorship programs for students and faculty, created institute-wide initiatives to broaden participation and led innovative projects in engineering education. With over $35 million in research funding, over 350 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 11 book chapters and 50 graduate and post-doctoral trainees, Margulies' transdisciplinary scholarly impact has been recognized by her election to the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors.
In her disciplines, she is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation was established in 2016 after the administrative separation of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. OVPRI has grown from a small team focused only on biomedical research to a staff of over 200 that supports more than $1 billion in annual R&D expenditure and activity across all 11 schools and colleges. Multiple teams provide direct support at every step in the research enterprise, including pre- and post-award administration, high-performance computing and research IT services, regulatory compliance, and licensing and patenting faculty discoveries through the Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization.
The search committee for the vice provost for research and innovation role was comprised of faculty and administrative leaders, each with deep area expertise related to part of the OVPRI portfolio. They were supported by Spencer Stuart, a leading executive search firm with extensive experience in higher education and commercialization and industry partnerships.
