Dear USF faculty and staff,
At today’s Board of Trustees meeting, we announced exciting news regarding the University of South Florida’s research enterprise. Dr. Sylvia Wilson Thomas has agreed to take on the permanent role of Vice President for Research & Innovation.
Dr. Thomas has served as interim vice president for two years, and under her leadership, the collaborative work to enhance our university’s research and innovation activities is already well underway. Her appointment follows a shift made earlier this year that transitioned USF's Office of Research & Innovation to move under the Provost & Executive Vice President. This functional shift combined the collective talents of Dr. Thomas and the entire Research & Innovation enterprise while leveraging the experience of our new Provost and enhancing collaboration across all three of our campuses and USF Health.
Since joining USF in 2005, Dr. Thomas has had a long and successful career at the university. She is a professor in electrical engineering, an affiliate faculty member in medical engineering and a former assistant dean in USF’s College of Engineering.
Among her many career milestones, Dr. Thomas is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, where she was a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Howard University as an NSF Materials Research Center of Excellence Fellow and was a National Science Foundation EAPSI research fellow in Korea at Chonbuk National University during her doctoral program.
We are immensely proud of USF’s position as a national leader in research and innovation. Led by our world-class faculty, we are solving global problems, improving lives and creating a healthier future. While we have more work to do to enhance and grow our university’s research and innovation enterprise, we are confident that with our combined resources, leadership and expertise, we will rise to the occasion.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Thomas on her new role and supporting her leadership efforts as we take USF’s research enterprise to new heights.
Sincerely,
Rhea F. Law
USF President
Prasant Mohapatra, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs