Meet Deborah Crawford
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
Deborah Crawford is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the full range of the university’s research, innovation, and economic development programs while raising the university’s national and international reputation as a leading public research university. She works with UT faculty, staff, and students to strengthen UT’s contributions across the full span of research, scholarship, and creative work, from fundamental discovery to real-world implementation.
Profile
Deborah Crawford has been instrumental in the development of UT’s innovation gateways, which focus university investment and organize faculty collaboration in five areas that are critical to the future of Tennessee and the nation.
Crawford is deeply committed to the integration of research and education, understanding that UT’s research portfolio must drive innovations in its academic programs and ensuring that every student and faculty member has learning opportunities at the knowledge frontier.
Since joining UT in 2020, Crawford has been a champion for place-based innovation, extending the university’s research impact across Knoxville and East Tennessee. These place-based initiatives are designed to advance UT’s research ambitions and help ensure that research outcomes truly make life and lives better for the citizens of Tennessee and others.
As an advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation, she promotes the translation of UT research outcomes into community and industry organizations—both those that are well established and new ventures being incubated and accelerated in the university’s programs.
She has served on numerous boards and committees, including the boards of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, the Southeastern Universities Research Association, the Cherokee Farm Development Corporation, and the University of Tennessee Research Foundation.
Before joining UT in 2020, Crawford served in leadership roles at George Mason University, the International Computer Science Institute, and Drexel University. She worked for 17 years at the National Science Foundation, where she held multiple executive positions. She has been honored with two Presidential Rank Awards (in 2006 and 2010).
Crawford holds a PhD in information systems engineering from the University of Bradford and a BS (honors) in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Glasgow.
I am proud to help our community achieve success, in the context of the university’s strategic vision as well as our faculty members’ and partners’ individual goals. My role includes helping faculty and partners see what is possible—and identify where their intellect, experience, and resources can converge to make a real difference.
Deborah Crawford
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
