Riedinger to Serve as Interim Vice Chancellor
I'm pleased to announce that Lee Riedinger, physics professor and director of the UT-ORNL Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, will begin serving as UT Knoxville's interim vice chancellor for research on January 1, 2012. He also will continue to direct the Bredesen Center.
Lee is taking over for Wes Hines, who has served as the interim vice chancellor since August 2010. Wes accepted the position of head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering in June, but agreed to remain interim vice chancellor until January 1, 2012.
Our search for a permanent vice chancellor for research is ongoing.
Lee has been on the UT physics faculty for more than forty years. He's served as director of the UT Science Alliance Center of Excellence, associate vice chancellor for research and head of the physics department. This is the second time he's served as interim vice chancellor for research. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lee has served as deputy director for science and technology and associate laboratory director for university partnerships. All of these experiences have given Lee unique insight into our university's research activities, as well as the importance of the relationship between UT and ORNL.
We appreciate both Lee and Wes and their continuing service to our university.