Following an extensive search, Dr. Carol L. Silva has been selected as the Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships for the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships at the University of Oklahoma, effective June 1. Dr. Silva has served as the interim SAVP-RP since Jan. 2023.
“Carol is an experienced, dynamic leader with an extensive record of excellence in research and building successful multidisciplinary programs and convergent teams focused on grand challenge problems at the intersection of public policy and technology. As a co-director of the Institute for Public Policy research and Analysis, she has been an integral member of the OVPRP leadership team. In her new role, she will be a key contributor to our ability to ignite and catalyze excellence in research and creative activities across the Norman campus,” said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, Vice President for Research and Partnerships.
In this role, Dr. Silva serves as the office’s principal deputy, representing the VPRP in all matters related to research and creative activity at OU. She will further develop and implement the research strategies and tactics described in the Lead On, University Strategic Plan and the OVPRP Research Strategic Framework. To accomplish this, she will serve as the Executive Director of the Convergence Initiative to foster university-wide transdisciplinary research and creative activities. Working closely with the OVPRP-led center and institute directors, the OVPRP leadership team, the Provost’s Office, the Center for Faculty Excellence, and with colleges across the Norman campus, Dr. Silva will help faculty in all disciplines better understand and adopt the principles of the Convergence Initiative in their own research and creative activities.
Before her new role with OVPRP, Dr. Silva co-directed the Institute for Public Policy Research Analysis, formerly the National Institute for Risk and Resilience. She directed the Center for Risk and Crisis Management and is the Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professor of Political Science in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. She served as the Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence in 2019. Of her many service roles and responsibilities, Silva recently served as one of 19 national experts to serve on the Committee on the Future of NSF EPSCoR in 2021 to help guide, engage and identify opportunities to increase the success of NSF EPSCoR projects.
