Ted Poehler, longtime vice provost for research at
Johns Hopkins, has decided to step down as
of Dec. 31 and, following a one-year sabbatical, will
return to the faculty as a research professor in
the Whiting School of Engineering to continue his work in
conducting polymers.
In making the announcement, Kristina M. Johnson, the
university's new provost and senior vice
president for academic affairs, said, "As a newcomer, I
have had the pleasure of working directly with
Ted for only a short time, but I already have come to enjoy
tremendously his genial demeanor, good
humor and encyclopedic knowledge of the research enterprise
at Johns Hopkins."
In his 15 years as vice provost, Johnson said, Poehler
has contributed tremendously to the
enterprise. His relationship with Johns Hopkins began in
1952, when he enrolled as a freshman.
Earning his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees under
presidents Bronk, Reed and Eisenhower,
he has gone on to serve as a researcher, teacher and senior
administrator under presidents
Eisenhower, Gordon, Muller, Richardson, Nathans and
Brody.
Among Poehler's contributions as a faculty member and
administrator:
He has worked to strengthen the
operation, facilities and staffing of the university's
animal
care and use program.
He has chaired the Institutional
Compliance Oversight Committee, which in its first two
years
has made important recommendations for enhancing Johns
Hopkins' performance in diverse compliance
areas.
He has overseen the building of
the Office of Research Projects Administration into a model
of
effective and efficient sponsored projects
administration.
He has helped establish important
interdisciplinary research efforts such as the new Human
Language Technology Center of Excellence and the Institute
for NanoBiotechnology.
He also has represented Johns Hopkins "superbly,"
Johnson said, outside the university, as
chair of the board of the Emerging Technology Center, vice
chair of Maryland Technology
Development Corp., chair of the Chesapeake Research
Consortium and board member of the
Astrophysical Research Consortium, among other roles.
The author or co-author of 154 papers and holder of 14
patents, Poehler has been a highly
productive and widely regarded researcher in areas as
diverse as electronic materials, gas lasers,
organic and metallo-organic compounds and conducting
polymers.
He conducted and supervised research at the Applied
Physics Laboratory and has directed
APL's Evening College Center, APL's Milton S. Eisenhower
Research Center and the Whiting School's
part-time programs. Before joining the Provost's Office, he
was associate dean for research in the
Whiting School from 1990 to 1992.
As vice provost, Poehler said, one of his most
satisfying — and most important — roles has
been
the grooming of future researchers and scholars through his
leadership of the annual Provost's
Undergraduate Research Awards.
Other research-related activities within the
university included serving as vice chair of the
JHPIEGO board of directors; supervising interdivisional
nominations and fellowship awards; chairing
the APL Partnership Program, Committee on Research
Information Practices, JHTT Oversight
Committee and Cigarette Restitution Fund board; and serving
as a member of the Joint Committee on
Health, Safety and Environment.
He also has represented Johns Hopkins in responding to
and advising on federal policies,
regulations and actions that affect academic research.
The provost said that the university is preparing to
launch a search for Poehler's successor as
vice provost for research.