The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is seeking a highly motivated, resourceful, and trustworthy individual to support the senior leadership team as the inaugural Assistant Vice President of Research Security. The OVPR oversees the university-wide strategic initiatives and operational functions of CMU’s $620 million research enterprise and associated top-ranked technology transfer and startup activities, which span the university’s academic colleges, research institutes and centers, and the Software Engineering Institute, a federally funded research and development center. Globally recognized for academic excellence and interdisciplinary research, this position is key CMU’s ambitious plans to deliver innovative and impactful solutions to the most pressing grand challenges of our time.
About Carnegie Mellon
A member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), CMU is a global, research-intensive private university with more than 1,500 faculty, 17,000 students, more than 117,000 alumni. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked CMU #21 among national universities, and Times Higher Education at #24 among world universities. CMU is home to top ranked programs in artificial intelligence, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, software engineering, cybersecurity, business analytics, quantitative analytics, and more. It is also one of a small number of academic institutions in the nation with a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and a National Manufacturing Innovation Institute, the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute. CMU's confluence of scholarly excellence, robust federal and industry partnerships, and heritage of innovation has consistently placed it among the world's most dynamic and impactful research institutions. Central to its research impact is CMU's strong track record of technology transfer and industry partnerships: over the last five years, CMU faculty, students, and alumni have launched more than 400 start-ups that together have raised more than $7 billion in follow-on funding.
The University is known for its distinctive culture, which champions interdisciplinary inquiry and collaborative efforts in a technology rich environment. With more than a dozen degree-granting locations, as well as a growing number of research partnerships around the world, CMU is truly a global institution. CMU's global footprint fosters cooperation across borders, including from its campuses in Silicon Valley, Qatar, and Rwanda. CMU faculty are known for inspiring students to think creatively, interpret with insight, and solve major societal, scientific, and technological challenges. Current and former faculty and alumni include 20 Nobel Laureates, 79 members of the National Academies, 12 Turing Awardees, 10 Academy Award winners, 116 Emmy Award winners, and 44 Tony Award winners. Exceptionally talented students, roughly 47% undergraduate and 53% graduate, are drawn to the University's commitment to innovative education and training and its outstanding programs across its seven schools and colleges. CMU's annual budget is over $1.2 billion with total research expenditures of over $620 million (FY2023).
After a storied history dating to the early 1900s, in 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute, a science research center founded by the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, to become known as Carnegie Mellon University. Today, CMU is a dynamic institution that has exceptional impact in the world. Although it is among the youngest of the nation's top universities, CMU's extraordinary success emanates from its deeply held core values and a unique heritage of innovation. It is a place of creativity, pragmatism, and ambition, with a tradition of strategically focusing its efforts and resources in areas where it can lead, then pursuing those areas with startling intensity. CMU is firmly committed to academic freedom and shared governance, providing a fertile environment for faculty success. The University facilitates collaboration across its seven schools and colleges through organizational mechanisms and incentives, such as numerous joint appointments and a dedication to recognizing contributions outside one's main field. CMU has long embraced diversity as a core value that is central and indivisible from the pursuit of intellectual and artistic excellence, and for more than two decades it has made increasing diversity in every constituency and building a supportive and nurturing community a strategic priority.
Research at Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon is known as a hotbed of innovative research, from the founding of the nation's first Robotics Institute in 1979 to the world's first program in engineering and public policy more than 50 years ago. The entrepreneurial mindset of its faculty, staff, and leadership have made the University a pioneer in societally transformative technologies such as the wireless campus, autonomous transportation and smart infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing, among others. Research and creative expression span the arts, humanities, social sciences, science, and engineering as well as the fundamental to the applied, from blue-sky curiosity driven research in the academic units, to large-scale applied research and prototyping at the National Robotics Engineering Center, to support for mission-driven agencies at the SEI and across campus.
CMU's strengths span the institution:
CMU researchers distinguish themselves with an international reputation for the breadth of their work as well as research support, consistently receiving funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Energy, Transportation, among others. Of CMU's $620 million in expenditures in FY2023, 70% of funding was derived from the federal government, with the majority being from the NSF and DOD. The University has diversified its funding portfolio over time, with FY2023 being a record year for industry and non-profit funding at $68 million.
CMU's unique interdisciplinary strengths that cut across AI, CS, engineering, technology, social and behavior science, design and the arts are a growing and major attraction for industry partners. Coupled with the efforts of CMU's Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation and the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, the University is a leader in introducing research innovations into the global marketplace and a driving force of regional economic development.
The Office of the Vice President of Research (OVPR)
The OVPR is a large and complex organization with close to 100 talented individuals that directly aid the research and innovation strategy, operations, and administration across campus. The OVPR bridges colleges, departments, university institutes, and centers to foster dialogue and collaboration on strategic major interdisciplinary initiatives across campus. The Government Relations team in OVPR leverages its long-standing presence in Washington D.C. to advocate for higher education priorities and bring new funding to CMU's talented faculty. The OVPR works in close partnership with University Advancement on holistic industry and foundation partnerships, including strategic alliances, master research agreements, and gifts.
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