USDA Chief Science Advisor named Vice President for Research at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 18, 2004 – Bradley W. "Brad" Fenwick, chief science advisor and chief scientist for research, education, and economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and professor of infectious disease pathobiology at Kansas State University, has been selected vice president for research at Virginia Tech, University Provost Mark McNamee announced. Fenwick will assume his new duties in July.

"Dr. Fenwick brings to Virginia Tech a wealth of knowledge about the research enterprise. His extensive experience with federal funding agencies and as a prolific researcher at a university--and particularly his understanding of research appropriations, budgets, and competitive processes--will serve the university well as we continue working toward our goal to become one of the nation's leading research institutions," McNamee said.

Fenwick fills the chair vacated by Leonard K. Peters, who stepped down on April 1, 2003. Since then, James B. Blair, associate provost for research and interdisciplinary programs, has served as interim vice provost for research.

"It is a wonderful and rare opportunity to join a university that has the capacity, expertise, and caliber of faculty, staff, and students of Virginia Tech. I am excited about working hard to do all I can to enhance the educational, research, public outreach, and economic development efforts of such a dynamic and forward thinking university," Fenwick said.

Fenwick has worked for USDA since 2002, focusing on the Cooperative States Research and Education Service (CSREES), and has primary management and leadership responsibility for the Competitive Programs (CP) unit and the National Research Initiative - Competitive Grants Program. The CP unit is USDA's largest investigator-initiated research program with an annual budget of more than $250 million. The unit supports research on key problems of national and regional importance, spanning scientific programs in biological, environmental, physical, and social sciences. Fenwick advises on the scientific management and administrative policies affecting the operation of the CP and CSREES.

Since 2003, Fenwick has chaired the U.S. Microbe Project - Federal Interagency Working Group (MPIWG), which includes representation from 14 federal agencies. MPIWG coordinates individual and cross-agency efforts to promote genome-enabled studies of the microbial world and the roles of microbes in human health, agriculture, and the environment.

Fenwick has also been a member of the faculty in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State since 1988, when he was named assistant department head of pathology. In 1990, he became associate dean of the graduate school, and in 1994, he was named director of the pathobiology graduate program.

A Fellow with the American Council on Education, Fenwick is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM), is an expert on infectious diseases, holds three patents, has authored and co-authored numerous professional articles, and has received more than $7 million in competitive research funding. He is a member of both the U.S.-European Commission Taskforce for Biotechnology and the Biotechnology Working Group of the State Department's Committee on International Economic Policy and chairs the federal interagency working group on microbial genomics for the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is a program evaluator for the Non-Proliferation Engagement of Soviet Biological Weapons Scientists - Civilian Research and Development Foundation, serves as editor of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and editorial advisor for Disease of Aquatic Organisms, has chaired both the ACVM's Board of Governors and its Immunology Certification Examination Committee, and is an accreditation consultant-evaluator for the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education's North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

He has held numerous federal appointed and elected positions and has been an invited speaker at college and professional meetings throughout the country. He spent 2000-2001 as a Fellow with the American Council on Education and was hosted by the University of California-Davis. Active in professional organizations, he has served as president of Phi Zeta and the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine; chaired both the Zoonotic Disease Committee of the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine and the Respiratory Disease Section of Research Workers in Animal Disease; and been the external assessor of the University of Putra (Malaysia) Office of the Registrar.

Fenwick holds an associate's degree in biology from Hutchinson Community College and a bachelor's degree in biology from Kansas State University. After earning his D.V.M. and a master's degree in pathology from Kansas State University, he completed a residency in anatomic pathology and received a Ph.D. in comparative pathology from the University of California - Davis.