The Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships is proud to announce the appointment of Ann West as Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships, effective October 1, 2019, pending Board of Regents’ approval.
Ann joined the OU faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1996. She has led a highly productive research program focused on bacterial and fungal cell signaling pathways, supported by organizations such as NIH, NSF, OCAST, Research Corporation, and the Price Family Foundation. Ann has co-authored 70 peer-reviewed research articles. She is credited with establishing OU-Norman's macromolecular crystallography program and is currently director of a world-class Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Structural Biology, funded by very significant Phase I and Phase II grants from the NIH.
She earned her B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in Genetics from Yale University. She gained further research training in protein biochemistry and structural biology as a Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers University. While at OU, Ann has been recognized with the Cottrell Scholar Award (1999, Research Corporation), Irene Rothbaum Award for Outstanding Assistant Professor (2001, College of Arts and Sciences), Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professorship (2001-2008), Joseph A. Brandt Professorship (2008-2015), and currently holds the endowed Grayce B. Kerr Centennial Chair (2015-present). In addition to significant service roles at the departmental, college, and university level, she has served on numerous NSF and NIH grant review panels as well as executive advisory committees.
Ann brings a vast amount of research and grant administration experience to this new role, having served as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Vice President for Research this past year. She looks forward to working with faculty and administrative leadership to continue building the research portfolio at OU.