MEMORANDUM
TO:
University Community
FROM:
Ronald Berkman, Interim Executive Vice President & Provost
DATE:
August 11, 2006
SUBJECT:
VP for Research and Dean of the University Graduate School
I am pleased to announce that Dr. George E. Walker has accepted an offer to be the Vice President
for Research and Dean of the University Graduate School. Dr. Walker will assume responsibilities
on September 1, 2006.
Dr. Walker comes to FIU from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching where for
the past five years he has served as Senior Scholar and Director of the Carnegie Initiative on the
Doctorate. For twelve years prior to that he was the Vice President for Research and Dean of the
University Graduate School at the Indiana University. Dr. Walker was responsible for oversight of
research and graduate education at all eight campuses of the Indiana University. The Indianapolis
campus is a rapidly developing urban research university with a major medical center. The
Bloomington campus is a traditional major research university that is a member of the Association of
American Universities (AAU), an elite group of the top 62 research universities in the US and
Canada.
Dr. Walker has served as President of the Association of Graduate Schools of the AAU, as Chair of
the Board of Directors of the Council of Graduate Schools, as Chair of the TOEFL Board of the
Educational Testing Service, and as Chair of the Executive Board of the Council on Research Policy
and Graduate Education of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
In addition to these leadership roles, he has served on the Woodrow Wilson Deans’ Advisory Board,
the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning National Advisory Board, and the
National Survey of Student Engagement National Advisory Board.
Dr. Walker is a theoretical nuclear physicist who obtained his undergraduate education at Wesleyan
University, his graduate education at Case Western University and his post-doctoral education at Los
Alamos and Stanford University. Most of his research career was at Indiana University where he had
National Science Foundation support for his research and that of his graduate students for the better
part of two decades. He was twice honored by Physics graduate students with the “Outstanding
Contributions to Graduate Education” award, and by his peers through election as a Fellow of the
American Physical Society. He led the establishment of a Nuclear Theory Center at Indiana
University. He continues in scientific leadership as Chair of the Physics and Advanced Technology
Office of the Provost
University Park .Miami, FL 33199 . Tel 305-348-2151 . Fax 305-348-2994 . www.fiu.edu
Florida International University is an Equal Opportunity/Access Employer and Institution . TDD via FRS 1-800-955-8771
Dr. George Walker
August 11, 2006
Page 2
Directorate Advisory Committee and Chair of the N Division Advisory Committee, both at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory.
Dr. Walker’s experience as a Vice President for Research and Dean of the University Graduate
School at a major AAU research university, and his leadership of many national associations focusing
on research and graduate education make him an outstanding choice for providing the leadership
required for FIU to reach the next level of excellence.
Dr. Walker has visited FIU twice (actually three times if we count his visit twenty years ago to
present a seminar in our Physics Department) and met with a number of our top researchers, the
Faculty Senate Research Committee, the Search and Screen Committee for the Vice President for
Research and Dean of the University Graduate School, OSRA staff, faculty, and senior
administrators. All constituencies were impressed with the qualifications Dr. Walker will bring to his
new position. His colleagues in the Department of Physics have recommended appointment as
Professor of Physics in addition to his administrative titles.
We feel extremely fortunate to have concluded this search so quickly and so successfully.
Office of the Provost
University Park .Miami, FL 33199 . Tel 305-348-2151 . Fax 305-348-2994 . www.fiu.edu
Florida International University is an Equal Opportunity/Access Employer and Institution . TDD via FRS 1-800-955-8771