Biography: Robert E. Barnhill, Ph.D.

Robert E. Barnhill assumed duties at the University of Texas System as Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer in April 2005. Before coming to UT System, Dr. Barnhill served at the University of Kansas (KU) as Vice Chancellor for Research and Public Service and President and Chief Operating Officer for the KU Center for Research Inc., a nonprofit corporation charged with managing research administration for the Lawrence campus. He also served as KU's Federal Relations Officer for Research. External research expenditures more than doubled at KU during his tenure and KU had one of the fastest research growth rates in the nation.

Barnhill was the senior research officer at Arizona State University (ASU) between 1991 and 1997, a period in which ASU was designated a top-tier research university and research income doubled. Barnhill first came to ASU in 1986 as chair of the Computer Science Department. Before his tenure at ASU, Barnhill spent 22 years as a professor of mathematics at the University of Utah.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics, with a minor in sociology, from the University of Kansas, and his master's and doctoral degrees in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin.

Barnhill is the co-founder of the academic discipline known as Computer Aided Geometric Design, which is used in the design of aircraft and automobiles and the representation of multidimensional scientific information. He is also the co-senior and founding editor of the international journal Computer Aided Geometric Design. He has attracted $5 million in grants for his research, including 30 years of continuous peer-reviewed support as well as over 20 years of industrial support. He has published more than 100 research-related articles.

His national research work includes serving as chair/member of the Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; chair/member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy; and member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.

As The University of Texas System's first Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer, Barnhill is responsible for encouraging large scale research collaborations among the System institutions and with other universities. His office works to enable industry, System and university collaborations that permit communities, the state, business and industry to gain more from university research and education. He will also be responsible for developing special opportunities for research with UT System and its institutions through collaborations with federal labs.

Vice Chancellor Barnhill's wife, Marigold Linton, is director of Math & Science Initiatives for the UT System's Institute for Public School Initiatives, transitioning from her role at the University of Kansas as director of American Indian Outreach. She is president of the award winning Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She was formerly professor of psychology at San Diego State University and the University of Utah.