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NEWS
| November 5, 2003
Presidential Search
Research Together
Finalist Arthur Vailas says the
city and university should combine efforts on environmental issues.
By Danny
Woodward
The Shorthorn staff
Arthur Vailas doesn’t consider UTA a university looking for
its research identity. This is already a research institution, he
said. And he said it’s the job of the new president to make
it a better one.
“I think UTA is a research university well on its way to greatness,”
he said. “It has all of the necessary elements.”
Dr. Vailas, the vice chancellor for research and intellectual property
management in the University of Houston System, is the last of five
presidential finalists to visit campus. He’s here today and
tomorrow.
Vailas should know about research. He has generated more than $10
million for about 30 grants, served on numerous panels and advisory
groups and published more than 60 journal articles and almost 10
book chapters.
A regular presenter at scientific meetings worldwide, he has received
the International Scholars Award and an Outstanding Science Achievement
Award.
And no topic is off limits for his research.
His projects include ventures in veterinary sciences, aerospace
engineering and sports medicine. But Arthur K. Smith, the University
of Houston System chancellor who’s on a sabbatical, said it’s
Vailas’ environmental research that has been most influential.
“He has been instrumental in developing UH as a focal point
for research into environmental issues confronting the city, the
state and the nation,” Dr. Smith told the University of Houston’s
student newspaper in 2002. “He and the University of Houston
will play a major role in determining how major urban centers will
improve air quality in the years to come.”
But Vailas hasn’t done it alone. Neither can UTA. That’s
why the presidential hopeful is a proponent of cities and universities
working together on research projects. That’s been his procedure
at Houston, he said, and it would be here, too.
In 2002, he lectured on how nanotechnology and Houston’s economic
development are intertwined. Many of his grants include collaboration
with NASA, which is headquartered in Houston.
The university’s work with the city would expand its research
initiatives and “could enhance the education and innovation
at UTA.”
But research should be driven by the faculty, and that’s no
problem here, Vailas said.
“It has a lot of great faculty all wanting to elevate [the
university’s] stature,” he said. “I have a lot
of respect for the faculty. It would be a great pleasure and honor
to work with them.”
He’s someone who’s easy to work with, one of his subordinates
said.
Rosalinda Mendez, the associate director of operations at the University
of Houston’s Texas Learning and Computational Center, said
Vailas succeeds as a researcher because he’s forward-minded.
“I think part of it is because he looks at trends in the future
and the bigger picture,” Mendez said. “He has a sense
of what’s up and coming, and he finds the people he knows
can get the job done.”
Vailas typically collaborates in his decision making, she said.
“He knows what he really wants to see come out of the effort,
but he’s not unwilling to work with people,” she said.
“Really, the best way to describe him is that he’s got
a great amount of loyalty and integrity. There’s no B.S. with
him. With him, it’s kind of ‘what you see is what you
get.’ It’s refreshing. He’s not a political animal,
but he fights for what he believes in.”
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Arthur Vailas
Position: Vice chancellor for research
and intellectual property management, University of
Houston System
Age: 52
Notable:
• Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s
in exercise physiology from the University of New
Hampshire in 1973
• Member of the Manchester (NH) Central High
School Hall of Fame for educational and scientific
achievement
• Candidate for presidency at the University
of Cincinnati in April
• Played football on a scholarship at the University
of New Hampshire
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| Arthur
Vailas, a presidential finalist, says the university
is on its way to greatness.
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