Appointment of Vice President for Research and Graduate Education

September 15, 2005

Members of the Rutgers Community:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Michael J. Pazzani of the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the university's new Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education.

Dr. Pazzani, who is currently director of the Information and Intelligent Systems Division in NSF's Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, will begin at Rutgers on October 1, 2005. He will be appointed to the rank of Professor II, with tenure, in our Department of Computer Science in New Brunswick/Piscataway.

Raised in New Jersey, Dr. Pazzani is a 1980 graduate of the University of Connecticut in computer engineering. Upon earning his doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1987, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Irvine, where he holds the rank of professor of information and computer science. Since 1983, Dr. Pazzani has authored or coauthored more than 170 technical papers, books, chapters, and presentations in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Pazzani has a strong grant record that includes funding from NSF, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the U.S. Department of Education. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence. In addition, he has served on the board of directors of Combichem, a publicly traded company involved in computational drug discovery, and the scientific advisory board of several companies, including Pharsight, that enable improvements in the clinical development of therapeutic products.

Michael Pazzani is a highly respected researcher whose career has been devoted to teaching, research, and service at the highest levels. He will be a leader who can energize research efforts at the university and provide a strong voice for graduate education. His experience and enthusiasm will serve us well as we continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge. I know you will join me in welcoming Dr. Pazzani to Rutgers and in thanking Professor Yogesh Jaluria and all the members of the search committee for their dedicated efforts.

For more information on Dr. Pazzani, please see the news release at http://urwebsrv.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=4714.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey