Marsha Read, a longtime University of Nevada, Reno faculty member and administrator, has been named Interim Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, University President Milton Glick announced.

Read’s appointment follows the retirement of Mark Brenner, who had served in both positions since 2005. Prior to her new appointment, Read had served as Associate Vice President for Research and Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

“Marsha’s wealth of administrative experience, particularly her previous experience as Interim Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, makes her the best choice in providing leadership during the next academic year,” Glick said, noting that Read had served in the same capacity in 2004-2005. “I have every confidence her leadership will continue to help grow our research enterprise and graduate school – both of which are keys to our institution’s reputation and long-term success. Marsha is a hard-working, well-organized and thoughtful person whose service to our institution speaks for itself.”

“There is much to do in the coming year, both in the area of research and with our Graduate School, and I look forward to the challenge,” said Read, who earned both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Nevada. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Nutrition from Utah State University. She began her career on the Nevada faculty in 1969.

“It is a challenging but also an exciting time for us,” Read added. “I appreciate President Glick’s confidence in my abilities to help accomplish the University’s goals in our area.”

Read’s responsibilities will include serving as a member of the University’s central administration with an emphasis on managing and directing research endeavors and research support services for the campus. She will report directly to Provost Marc Johnson.

The new reporting line will help coordinate all of the academic programs through one vice president, and will provide additional research support for faculty.

“A major goal of our University is to grow the research activity and research support through the office of the Vice President for Research and it is important to help faculty achieve this goal,” Johnson explained. He added that during the next few weeks, services in the Office of Vice President for Research and Graduate School will be placed under a brief review to assure appropriate compliance with regulatory requirements and to focus research support for faculty.

In addition to a research career that has included publication of more than 50 refereed articles in the area of health and nutrition and serving as principal investigator or co-principal investigator of 10 federally or state-funded research projects, Read has also supervised more than 25 master’s degree projects of her former students.

Read is a former chairperson of the campus’ Faculty Senate (1994-95) and the Graduate Council (1992). In 1999-2000, she served as chairperson of the University’s NCAA Certification Steering Committee.