Eckardt Named UMaine Vice President
Contact: Media contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Michael Eckardt, Ph. D., a medical psychologist who has vast experience managing research programs and other activities at a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been named vice president for research at the University of Maine. The appointment was approved today by the executive committee of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.
Eckardt, who has a doctorate in medical psychology from the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, began working for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the NIH in 1976. He served that agency in several capacities and was also a member of the University of Oregon Medical School faculty from 1986-90. He has played a significant role in the development of federal guidelines related to alcohol and health and has been an active researcher, authoring some 150 scientific publications. Eckardt retired from NIAAA earlier this year, having served most recently as chief of the agency’s Planning and Evaluation Branch.
“We will benefit greatly from Michael’s expertise as he joins us to lead UMaine’s research efforts,” says Robert Kennedy, UMaine’s provost and executive vice president. “He has a great deal of experience in managing research activities at the highest level and he will play a key role in helping us advance in this vital part of UMaine’s mission. Michael is both a distinguished scientist and a proven leader. I look forward to working with him.”
At UMaine, the vice president for research is responsible for developing and executing strategies related to UMaine’s research mission; for representing the university’s interests to government, industry and other constituencies; and for oversight of all policies related to research, technology transfer and economic development.
“I am looking forward to working with the faculty and senior leadership at the University of Maine to further their research interests,” Eckardt says. “I am very impressed with both the faculty’s enthusiasm for research and the extensive support of these efforts by the senior leadership. It will be an exciting challenge to realize the research-related goals stated in the University’s strategic plan and to accelerate the attainment of a more knowledge-based economy in Maine.”
The vice president for research job at UMaine has been vacant for nearly 15 months, since Daniel Dwyer resigned to accept a similar position in New Mexico. Eckardt is expected to begin work at UMaine immediately.