Newscope

Dr. Barry L. Taylor named vice president for research affairs

Barry L. Taylor, PhD

The LLU Board of Trustees appointed Barry L. Taylor, PhD, vice president for research affairs on February 7. Dr. Taylor, who is chair of the department of microbiology and molecular genetics, will retain that position until a replacement is found.

Dr. Taylor has been professor and chair of the department since 1988. He was responsible for the formation of the Center for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy.

Investigating the behavior of bacteria has been Dr. Taylor's passion for 27 years. For visitors to his laboratory, he enthusiastically demonstrates how bacteria find their way to the right concentration of oxygen.

"I was persuaded to accept the position as vice president for research affairs," Dr. Taylor says, "when Dr. Behrens assured me that I would continue to have an externally funded research group."

In his role as vice president for research affairs, Dr. Taylor will be responsible for research infrastructure on campus, including compliance with federal and state regulations that relate to research. He will also establish a central office that will assist faculty members in patenting new inventions, and in technology transfer and marketing of those inventions.

"The responsibilities I will enjoy the most," Dr. Taylor continues, "will be mentoring young faculty researchers and advising the president and deans on establishing new centers of research excellence. In addition to fostering biomedical research, a high priority will be to develop more psycho-social research on campus.

Dr. Taylor completed his doctorate in biochemistry in 1973 with a minor field in microbiology at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. He joined the LLU faculty in 1976 as an assistant professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine.

He received the Commonwealth Scholarship in 1964 from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. In 1980, 1982, and again in 1986, Dr. Taylor was named the Basic Science Investigator of the Year by the Walter E. Macpherson Society of the School of Medicine. He received the Outstanding Investigator Award from the Walter E. Macpherson Society in 1988.