UT President J. Wade Gilley sat down with Cross Sections in early November and talked about his plans for the University of Tennessee. "The vision that we've staked out is to be one of the top 25 public research universities in America," he said. To achieve this goal would require the University to bolster its research program by capitalizing on its assets and focusing its energies on national priorities. For example, Dr. Gilley explained that when UT was putting together a bid for management of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the teams involved defined certain strategic areas for research (e.g., computer science, environmental science, materials research, and nanotechnology) that could help make the University competitive. A Strategic Defense Forum held at UT in August 2000 further defined areas of opportunity for UT's research goals. Leaders from government and academia described their respective research agenda, priorities, and expected trends to the University's Advisory Panel on Research and Economic Development Strategies. "They met with representatives from NIH, the Department of Energy, NSF, (and) the Defense Department to find out what the national agenda was. At the end of that day, they recommended a set of five strategic research directions for the University," Dr. Gilley said, including computational and information sciences, functional genomics, environmental sciences, biomedical science, and materials science. He pointed out that the national research trends correlated well with the areas defined during the UT-ORNL bid process. These are the opportunities he sees for UT to come up through the ranks as a leading research institution, a goal that starts at the President's office but extends throughout the University community. "I would like for each college and each department to think about their role in moving the University up to the top 25," Dr. Gilley said. "For those people who want to be a part of it, there are going to be incentive funds from the University." Dr. Gilley explained that the University had raised $20 million, with an additional $30 million from the state of Tennessee, to launch new research efforts. The funding would support research centers selected from faculty proposals submitted in June 2000. "I've been very pleased by the response of the faculty," Dr. Gilley said. "What we want to do is give our most productive, creative, entrepreneurial faculty some incentive to raise the level of activity." On December 1, 2000, the first grants from those funds were allocated, including $5 million for The Tennessee Advanced Materials Laboratory (TAML) to be directed by Physics Professor and Distinguished Scientist Ward Plummer. TAML is one of nine research centers in Knoxville and Memphis funded through the "Tennessee 21st Century Research Initiative." Five centers in Knoxville will study materials science, environmental biology, food safety, information technology, and structural biology. Four centers in Memphis are devoted to genomics, neurology and brain disease, diseases of connective tissue, and vascular biology. Dr. Plummer's center will be an interdisciplinary venture involving experts in materials science and engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, and physics, both at UT and ORNL. TAML will use computationally-intensive modeling and experimental research to explore the creation of new materials. This is a timely initiative considering that a recent report from the National Academies' Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy held that "nearly all modern industries benefit from developments in materials research." The new centers of excellence are expected to bring in at least $220 million in federal funding by 2006. But Dr. Gilley emphasized that the University's goals require the support of everyone: from faculty and students to alumni. A major fund-raising campaign is on the horizon that will involve all UT departments and colleges. He said the target amount will be in the $600 million to $1 billion range. This is a lofty goal for the University, but one President Gilley is ready to pursue. He said that before the University board members began the hiring process for a new president, they had high ambitions. "They realized the University of Tennessee had to provide leadership for the state and that its research mission had to be reinvigorated," he said. From his first meeting with the board, he said he "felt a strong commitment to take the University of Tennessee to another level." That's what brought him to Knoxville from Marshall University a year ago. "I thought this was a real opportunity and a real challenge." Web Site of Interest (includes information on TAML and the 21st Century Initiative): The Office of President J. Wade Gilley: http://ur.utenn.edu/president/ Cross Sections, Fall 2000 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on January 5, 2001. Please send comments to cal@utk.edu.