Wendie Cohick. Photo credit: Office of Public Outreach and Communication.
Announcement by SEBS Executive Dean Laura Lawson.
Dear SEBS & NJAES community,
Please join me in congratulating Wendie Cohick, who will step into the role of Vice Provost for Research in January 2025!
It has been a pleasure working with Wendie for the past four and a half years. We came into our administrative leadership roles at the same time, just as the pandemic started. Wendie worked tirelessly to make sure our research community was supported and able to continue their work.
In addition to serving as the Director of Research for NJAES, Wendie was the inaugural Dean of Research and Graduate Education for SEBS/NJAES. Working with the central Office of Research, Wendie helped to secure grants and contracts as well as expand patents and commercialization efforts. Wendie put practices in place to develop competitive start-up packages for new faculty, provide bridge funding, and leverage NJAES capacity funds to maximize impact. Wendie also served as interim director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health (IFNH) and spearheaded its strategic revisioning plan, which is near completion. She has worked closely with our SEBS Graduate Program Directors and staff to build a community that works together to develop best practices and establish policies and procedures to help shape successful graduate education. Because telling our story is always important, Wendie worked with the Office of Public Outreach and Communication to develop an engaging research section on the SEBS website. Wendie has been, and will continue to be, a tireless mentor to faculty at all career stages.
During her tenure, Wendie represented SEBS/NJAES on the New Brunswick Deans of Research committee for the Senior Vice Provost for Research. Respect for her leadership was reflected in her selection as the co-chair of the Life Sciences Alliance Provost Strategic Task Force, which has worked over the past year and a half to make recommendations to the Chancellor on how to better leverage our strengths in the Life Sciences across New Brunswick to facilitate innovative research, one of the pillars of the Chancellor’s Academic Master Plan.
The position of Dean of Research and Graduate Education/Director of Research for NJAES has evolved with the changing university and I am reframing the position as two: the Dean/Director of Research for SEBS/NJAES and the Associate Dean for Graduate Education. With the goal of establishing a more transparent process for administrative leadership, I plan to send out position descriptions and solicit interest.
Wendie will continue in her role here at SEBS until December 31, 2024, and we’ll make sure to have a smooth transition with little to no impact on faculty and staff. More information on this will be available soon. Right now, the goal is to celebrate and congratulate Wendie in her upcoming new role!
