AUSTIN – One is an international authority on infectious diseases and the other an eminent electrical and computer engineer who has developed ground-breaking advances in robotics. And they are both recent additions to University of Texas System institutions.
Dr. James LeDuc left the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta as one of its top infectious diseases experts last November to become the director of the Program on Global Health at the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity (IHII) at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston.
Earlier in 2006, Mo Jamshidi, a renowned electrical and computer engineer at the University of New Mexico known for his pioneering work in the robotics field, accepted a top research position with the College of Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Both distinguished themselves as leaders in their respective fields long before they arrived at their newest posts. And few could argue the extraordinary value they could bring to any single institution.
To recruit them took a concerted commitment to excellence – and that’s what the UT System institutions offered.
“Recruiting someone of Dr. LeDuc’s caliber put us on the map almost immediately in the international global health arena,” said Dr. Stanley Lemon, director of the IHII and a professor of microbiology at UTMB who helped recruit LeDuc. “He is an international leader in public health and even has led discussions at the G-8 Conference.”
Added UTSA President Ricardo Romo: “Scholars as extraordinary as Mo Jamshidi give institutions such as UTSA instant value. It’s not just for the research they bring in, but for the teams of young bright scholars they attract.”
Through the UT System Science and Technology Acquisition and Retention (STARs) Program – an innovative initiative created in 2004 and funded by bond proceeds from the Permanent University Fund – grants were made available to both institutions so they could offer enhanced facilities and state-of-the-art equipment to entice recruits such as LeDuc and Jamshidi.
“The STARs program has strengthened our recruitment and retention efforts at UT institutions, ultimately translating into keeping the best minds, their research and potential commercial applications here in Texas,” UT System Chancellor Mark G. Yudof said.
In LeDuc’s case, UTMB committed to developing a global health program that involved $1.5 million worth of renovated laboratory space and equipment. For Jamshidi, UTSA offered a $250,000 package, which allowed the university to build a sophisticated laboratory specifically suited to advancing his research in robotics.
“There is no greater investment than those our institutions make in human capital, and the STARs program has allowed us to recruit exceptional talent while at the same time retaining our most productive researchers and faculty members,” said David B. Prior, UT System executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. “We expect this program will continue to produce extraordinary dividends for our institutions and help propel them to new heights in the global marketplace for fresh knowledge.”
So far, the 3-year-old program has invested roughly $86 million to recruit or retain top-flight faculty members and researchers in health, mathematics, computer sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, engineering and liberal arts. UT System institutions have realized a return of more than $202 million in current or future research grants and private gifts produced by STARs faculty.
Many of the most recent STARs recruits have just begun their research and their institutions can expect millions more in research grants and private gifts as a result of their efforts.
More than half of the faculty members nominated to receive competitive STARs awards were successfully recruited or retained. These faculty members have accounted for 88 issued or pending patents, authored or refereed nearly 700 scientific publications and have or are sponsoring more than 450 graduates and post-doctoral students.
Because of its extraordinary success, The UT System Board of Regents is expected to authorize additional funds for the STARs program at the Board’s next meeting in August.
“There is no doubt that these STARs scholars are adding tremendous value to our institutions, not just in research grants but in building an increasingly stronger faculty which will help guide our institutions as competition tightens for top-talent scholars on a global scale,” said Dr. Kenneth I. Shine, executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the UT System.
The goal of the UT System STARs program is to recruit nationally prominent senior faculty members; to improve the quality of new faculty and institutional research capacity by enhancing start-up packages for tenured and tenure-track faculty; and to retain top-notch faculty recruited by other institutions.
The University of Texas System is one of the nation’s largest higher education systems, with nine academic campuses and six health institutions. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $10 billion (FY 2007) including $1.7 billion in research funded by federal, state, local and private sources. Student enrollment exceeded 190,000 in the 2006 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. With more than 80,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.
