October 16, 2024
Colleagues,
Dr. Sherri Jones, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, has informed me of her decision to step down from her current role November 15 to begin transitioning to her planned retirement. Dr. Jennifer Nelson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Centers and Core Facilities, has agreed to take over the role of Interim Vice Chancellor until we can launch a search for a permanent leader of the Office of Research and Innovation. Dr. Jones will continue to serve in a part-time capacity as a Senior Research Adviser to aid in the transition.
As you know, Dr. Jones is a Husker to the core, and upon her retirement we will miss the leadership, expertise and passion she brings to her work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Jones is emblematic of all our hard-working faculty and staff who come to our campuses each day with a commitment to making UNL the best it can be for our faculty, staff and students, and for the state of Nebraska.
Under Dr. Jones’ leadership this past year, UNL experienced increases across the metrics by which research success is measured—including, but not limited to, increases in the number and amount of externally funded awards, and research expenditures. All UNL thanks her for her dedicated work as the Velma Warren Hodder Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, as Director of the Barkley Memorial Center, as Dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, and most recently as Interim Vice Chancellor.
I am personally grateful for Dr. Jones’ willingness to step into the Vice Chancellor role last year, at a critical time when the university needed her leadership. I am also grateful to Dr. Nelson for answering this call to additional leadership.
In her current role, Dr. Nelson is responsible for research strategy and infrastructure and serves as UNL’s research integrity officer, overseeing the university’s efforts to comply with national requirements and norms for responsible conduct of research and conflict of interest. She has been a UNL faculty member since 2011 and has served as director of administration of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. She will be a great addition to our executive leadership team.
Dr. Nelson has a deep understanding of the vision and mission of the Office of Research and Innovation. She has worked collaboratively with her team as well as campus-wide committees and leadership to develop and implement an updated COI/COC policy, appropriately address new compliance regulations, and promote recommendations for research data management and sharing. She has also forged strong partnerships with center and core facility directors, University of Nebraska Information Technology Services, University Libraries, research centers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and federal regulatory bodies. The important work of the Office of Research and Innovation will continue at full steam ahead under Dr. Nelson’s leadership.
Please join me in thanking Dr. Jones for her outstanding service to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and in welcoming Dr. Nelson to her new interim role.
Rodney D. Bennett
Chancellor