Vice president for research Peter Dorhout has been appointed to a five-year second term, announced senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert.
Peter Dorhout
"Peter has grown Iowa State's research portfolio, even through the pandemic, achieving record funding levels while bringing together faculty from across campus to develop innovative solutions that address our state's most pressing challenges," Wickert said.
During his first term, which began in January 2021, Dorhout has worked with faculty and staff to grow Iowa State's research programs. Accomplishments include:
- Attracting record external research funding totals of $301 million in fiscal year 2023 and $346 million in FY24.
- Fostering interdisciplinary work through a series of Research and Innovation Roundtables, which have engaged nearly 300 researchers from 70 academic departments.
- Leading and expanding three of the Iowa Economic Development Authority's four bioscience platforms focused on investing in technology transfer strategies, corporate partnerships and start-up companies.
- Growing partnerships with federal laboratories in support of research, including Ames National Laboratory, the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment and the National Animal Disease Center.
- Elevating the profile of Iowa State and its research through his leadership with the national Council on Competitiveness, the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Chemical Society.
Dorhout also led the steering committee that produced Iowa State's 2022-31 Strategic Plan, engaging 500 faculty, staff, students, community members and external stakeholders around the plan's five strategic goals.
"It has been a great privilege to serve as Iowa State's vice president for research," Dorhout said. "Our success is made possible through the work of excellent teams -- centrally, in our centers and institutes, and in individual faculty contributions -- and I look forward to working with everyone for a second term."
An internationally renowned chemist, Dorhout earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He completed a postdoc position at Iowa State and the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames National Laboratory.
Wickert thanked the faculty and staff who participated in an electronic survey as part of the review process.
