Carl Pinkert Named UA Vice President for Research

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Carl A. Pinkert has been named vice president for research at The University of Alabama. The appointment is effective Nov. 1.

Pinkert comes to UA from Auburn University where he has served as associate vice president for research since 2009. He was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011.

“Dr. Pinkert brings a wealth of experience to the position based on his personal research achievement and his record of leadership in academic research administration. He will help us achieve our goals in the area of funded research and technology transfer,” said UA President Judy Bonner.

Dr. Joe Benson, who has served as vice president for research at UA since 2009 and as interim vice president from 2007-2009, plans to step down as vice president for research when Pinkert joins the University. Benson currently also serves as interim provost.

“Dr. Pinkert will have a strong foundation to build on thanks to Dr. Benson’s outstanding leadership. Since he became interim vice president for research in 2007, the number of research awards has increased by 30 percent, and total external funding has increased from just over $56 million to $72.8 million,” Bonner said.

Pinkert said he hopes to build on that foundation.

“It is a true honor to be selected as the next vice president for research at UA. During the interview process, across the entire UA campus, the enthusiastic reception for research and creative scholarship was most impressive. I hope to build on the strong foundation established by Dr. Benson, and I look forward to working with President Bonner and the UA family in the coming years” Pinkert said.

Pinkert joined Auburn in 2006 as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine and professor of pathobiology, and he was named associate vice president for research three years later. He serves as chief operating officer for the Office of the Vice President for Research with duties and responsibilities revolving around the research enterprise, interdisciplinary activities, and faculty advocacy.

He previously served as professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of the Transgenics Program at the University of Rochester from 2000-2006, and as associate professor of comparative medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and director of UAB Transgenic Animal/Embryonic Stem Cell Resource from 1991-2000. He has also served as director of the department of animal science and director of the animal biology division and animal biology research center at Embryogen/DNX and as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri.

Over his research career, Pinkert led or co-led research projects that have received more than $23 million in funding from NIH, USDA, NSF, HHMI, foundations and industry. He is the author or co-author of more than 135 published articles, 24 reports and 175 abstracts. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and a member of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium board of directors. Among other honors, he received the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Prize in Animal Research in 1997.

Pinkert earned bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University, his master’s degree at Southern Illinois University and his doctorate at the University of Georgia. He then completed postdoctoral studies on an NIH fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.