A national search has been launched to recruit the next executive director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).

The transportation institute executive director will oversee the university’s largest research institute, which is conducting more than 300 current research projects in partnership with more than 100 public and private organizations to improve transportation safety nationally and globally. VTTI exceeded $50 million in externally sponsored awards in fiscal year 2020 and historically accounts for 12-15 percent of sponsored research at Virginia Tech.

The executive director would also become the new president of VTT LLC, a $5 million annual university-affiliated research corporation running the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation in Halifax County, Va.

The new transportation institute executive director will replace Tom Dingus, who has led VTTI for 25 years and recently announced his plans to return to the faculty.

Stefan Duma, executive director of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, will chair the search committee. Search committee members are as follows:

·        Dennis Dean – University Distinguished Professor, Biochemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

·        Elizabeth Hooper – director, State Relations, Office of Government Relations.

·        Ron Fricker – interim dean, College of Science; professor, Statistics.

·        Pascha Gerni – chief finance and administration officer, VTTI.

·        Eric Glenn – senior research specialist, VTTI.

·        Raymond Major – associate professor, Business Information Technology, Pamplin College of Business.

·        Cathy McGhee – director of research and innovation, Virginia Transportation Research Council.

·        Miguel Perez – associate professor, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, College of Engineering; group leader, Data Engineering, VTTI.

·        Hesham Rakha – Samuel Reynolds Pritchard Professor of Engineering, Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering; director, Center for Sustainable Mobility, VTTI.

·        Don Taylor – executive vice provost, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

·        Brandy Salmon – associate vice president, Innovation and Partnerships, LINK + LICENSE + LAUNCH.

·        Susan Soccolich – research associate, VTTI.

·        Eileen Van Aken – chair, Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering.

·        Yang Zhang – associate professor, School of Public and International Affairs.

The Division of Human Resources’ Talent Acquisition team will assist with the search. For confidential inquiries or to nominate an individual for this position, contact Whitney Abraham (whit28@vt.edu) or Jeff Cumberland (jcumber@vt.edu).

The position description, application process, and search updates will be available on PageUp.

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