Dear Colleagues,
We are excited to share with you that Dr. Gregory F. Ball will be the next Vice President for Research overseeing the joint research enterprise at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Dr. Ball's exemplary leadership record combined with a commitment to interdisciplinary research, scientific standards and diversity in education make him an ideal choice to keep us on our upward trajectory in world-leading research and innovation.
For the past seven years, Dr. Ball has served as dean of UMCP's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences-a large and academically complex college, with more than 5,000 undergraduate students and more than 800 masters and doctoral students across 10 departments and multiple centers. Dr. Ball has prioritized diversity and inclusion in faculty and staff hiring during his tenure as dean. He also focused on modernizing research training and expanding experiential learning opportunities and career preparation services for all students in the college.
Throughout his deanship, Dr. Ball maintained an active research lab in the Department of Psychology. His research examines seasonal changes in the brains and behavior of songbirds in order to understand how hormones and external environmental stimuli affect behavior. A highly accomplished scientist, Dr. Ball has amassed more than 200 research publications and continues to receive research grant support from the National Institutes of Health.
Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Dr. Ball was Vice Dean for Science and Research Infrastructure in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and also served as director of the school's undergraduate neuroscience program. He was a faculty member in the JHU Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences for 23 years.
Dr. Ball earned a B.A. in psychology from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in psychobiology from the Institute of Animal Behavior at Rutgers University. He completed his postdoctoral work in comparative neuroendocrinology and ethology at Rockefeller University. He also has held faculty appointments at Rutgers University and Boston College.
Dr. Ball will serve a three-year appointment and start his new position on February 1. An interim BSOS Dean will be named later today. We would like to thank Dr. Amitabh Varshney who has served as Interim VPR for the past three months while still maintaining his role as dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. Additionally, we are indebted to Dr. Laurie Locascio, the first VPR to oversee both UMCP and UMB, who stepped down after being nominated by President Joseph Biden to be Under Secretary for Standards and Technology in the Department of Commerce.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Gregory Ball in his new role as Vice President for Research.
Sincerely,
Darryll J. Pines President, University of Maryland, College Park He/Him/His
Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS President, University of Maryland, Baltimore He/Him/His