Leadership
The Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development leadership team helps UT faculty, staff, and students and their collaborators realize their research aspirations.
How UT leads research
The Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development sets UT’s research strategy and strengthens the partnerships that turn discovery into real-world impact. Meet the leaders supporting our researchers and advancing work that makes life and lives better.
Deborah Crawford
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Susan Cormia
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.
Marc Gibson
Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation Partnerships and Economic Development
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Allie Leatherwood
Gibson oversees university-wide strategy for engaging industry, government, and nonprofit partners. His team establishes and sustains strategic partnerships to advance knowledge transfer to industry and community partners and to create economic and community impact. Gibson leads his team in understanding how to align stakeholder interests and perspectives to realize shared goals.
Vasileios Maroulas
Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of the AI Tennessee Initiative
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Samantha Kanterman
Maroulas supports the planning, development, and execution of the AI Tennessee Initiative, with particular focus on creating and leveraging cross-disciplinary research, education, infrastructure, and partnership opportunities. Maroulas brings to the role his experience as a UT mathematics professor with joint appointments in the Haslam College of Business and the Bredesen Center.
Sally Morris
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Development and Recognitions
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Caitlin Carrington
Morris and her staff advance UT’s research mission and reputation for leadership by supporting investments in strategic priority areas and rising leaders. Her team helps individuals and teams generate winning proposals for external funding and recognition, and they track outcomes data that demonstrates the strength and impact of UT’s research enterprise.
Ute Shaw
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Operations
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Samantha Kanterman
Shaw oversees ORIED’s business, financial, administrative, and operational functions. She provides strategic planning and analysis for ORIED’s budget and the investments made to grow UT’s research enterprise. Her team provides support that is tactical, efficient, and flexible to meet the needs of a modern land-grant research university and its institutional core facilities.
David Smelser
Interim Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Caitlin Carrington
Smelser oversees the proposal, award, and accounting teams that support the administrative and financial management of UT’s sponsored projects enterprise, as well as the research integrity, assurance and security teams that promote and support a strong responsible conduct of research culture within the university. They provide the highest quality service to researchers.
Jennifer Webster
Chief of Staff
[email protected] | Administrative Coordinator: Samantha Kanterman
Webster provides leadership support and coordination to advance ORIED projects and priorities. She works to increase connectivity between ORIED leadership and stakeholders across UT to streamline the pursuit of shared goals. She provides insights, connections, and resources that facilitate collaboration and result in awards and recognition for UT faculty.
Strategy and connections
Big ideas are great. Getting to the right person is better. Explore how UT Research sets priorities and turns strengths into real-world outcomes, then use our contact routing to connect with the best next step for your goal.