Newswise — George Washington University President Steven Knapp has announced that Dr. Leo M. Chalupa, a prominent neuroscience researcher and professor, will become GW's first Vice President for Research. Beginning April 1, 2009, Dr. Chalupa will serve as the University's chief research officer, charged with leading GW into the top tier of the nation's research institutions.
"Dr. Chalupa is an accomplished scientist and administrator who brings a wealth of experience and strategic vision to this important new position," said Dr. Knapp.
"He has the skills and insight needed to work across the University's many disciplines, building our research infrastructure and advancing GW's reputation as an internationally recognized research institution. I am grateful to Dr. Vincent Chiappinelli and the faculty committee he chaired for conducting the extensive international search that led to this outstanding appointment."
One of Dr. Chalupa's primary responsibilities will be to increase collaboration between the academic and medical areas of the University, which will help to strengthen the development of research across all disciplines. He also will focus on enhancing research initiatives at GW's Virginia Campus in Ashburn, Va., which is fast becoming a magnet for cutting-edge research in the Northern Virginia technology corridor.
Dr. Chalupa has had a long and notable career in academia, spanning more than 30 years in the fields of psychology, neurophysiology, and ophthalmology. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology, as well as the Chair of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis. As the principal investigator for three grants from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Chalupa is involved with research on the retina, visual pathways, and development of vision. He has co-written three books in the field of visual neuroscience and authored or co-authored nearly 150 journal articles. Dr. Chalupa also brings extensive experience as an administrator, having served as the Director of UC Davis Center for Neuroscience and Interim Dean of the College of Biological Sciences. In addition to his work with NIH, Dr. Chalupa has secured grants from the National Science Foundation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Guggenheim Foundation, among many others.
"I am delighted to have been selected for this position. The George Washington University is well situated to be one of the nation's leading research universities. It is home to a wide variety of innovative scientists and professors, whose expertise spans fields from the economy to transportation safety and security to medical research. This expertise, in the setting of the nation's capital, is invaluable," said Dr. Chalupa. "I look forward to joining GW's collaborative educational community, as we work together to bring GW to the forefront of research development." "With two decades of experience reviewing federal and nonfederal grants, Dr. Chalupa has developed a keen sense of how the academic and federal government research communities function. This, along with his proven management skills and extensive grant administration work, will lead GW's research arm to a new level of distinction," said Donald R. Lehman, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and George Gamow Professor of Theoretical Physics at GW. "He will be a valuable addition to GW's senior management team and play a critical role in accomplishing the goals of the University's Strategic Plan for Academic Excellence."
Dr. Chiappinelli added, "This was truly a competitive search that brought out the best and brightest candidates. Our search committee, with representatives from each of GW's nine schools and colleges, did a terrific job working together to find a candidate who could serve the research needs of the entire University. The committee felt that Dr. Chalupa stood out, combining a wealth of experience working at a tier-one research institution with outstanding leadership abilities."
In addition to his work at the University of California, Dr. Chalupa is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Society for Neuroscience, Sigma Xi honorary society, and the American Physiological Society. He also has been a Guggenheim Fellow. Dr. Chalupa graduated from Queens College with a bachelor's degree in physiological psychology, earned his doctorate in neuropsychology at the City University of New York, and served a post-doctoral fellowship at the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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