MU Vice Chancellor for Research Rob Duncan will leave the university at the end of the year. Beginning in 2014, Duncan will serve as the vice president for research at Texas Tech University.
Duncan was appointed vice chancellor for research in 2008. Duncan says the faculty at MU is a great collaborative effort.
“It’s why my heart is heavy today,” Duncan said. “I mean, I am very excited about the future, but Mizzou is a wonderful place. It’s one of the great research universities in the United States, without a doubt.”
Dr. Robert Hall, associate vice chancellor for research at MU, will be filling Duncan’s role as interim vice chancellor for research beginning in January until a permanent replacement is found. Hall has been at MU since 1977 and has served as interim vice chancellor for research twice previously.
“Rob Duncan is a very talented research administrator,” Hall said. “He’s a very brilliant guy. He is a renowned, low temperature physicist, and I think he is a real catch for Texas Tech.”
Duncan received his bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT in 1982. In 1988, he went on to receive his doctorate of physics from the University of California-Santa Barbara. He previously worked for Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico. He is also the founding director of the New Mexico Consortium’s Institute at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Duncan’s new position at Texas Tech will begin Jan. 1, 2014.
