Research and Innovation, USF World positions split

USF President Judy Genshaft announced a change in USF’s research endeavors Friday, as Paul Sanberg will immediately take over the position of vice president for Research and Innovation for the USF System.

Sanberg, who was previously senior associate vice president for Research and Innovation, will take over the position to allow for individual leadership in both the Department of Research and Innovation and USF World. Karen Holbrook previously held Sanberg’s new position and had been serving a dual role as the head of both departments since November 2010. Now, she will become senior vice president for Global Affairs and International Research.

“That really isn’t responsible for one person to do all of the (oversight),” she said. “Both offices are disadvantaged (by not having their own executive), so you really need someone to think about USF World all the time and one person to think about research all the time.”

Despite the shift, salaries for both Holbrook and Sanberg remain the same. The $350,000 Holbrook was earning was a carryover from when she was first hired as vice president for Research and Innovation for the USF System in 2007 and will now be considered her USF World salary. Sanberg, who was earning $378,073 in his previous role, will not get an increase in salary. 

The two departments became closely tied after the restructuring of USF’s Department of International Affairs, now known as USF World. The process was finalized in 2010 under Holbrook’s leadership.

Holbrook said USF World, which focuses on expanding USF’s global presence, and Research and Innovations, which oversees USF’s research efforts across all disciplines, will still work together.

“Things like global security, energy, education, all of these things — the environment — all of these things are things that are not only problems in this country but problems that are global,” she said. “So as we were developing USF World, it was really very important to have the research component to it.”

Sanberg said the two will continue building up USF’s research reputation of being a “driver of economic development in the Tampa Bay area.”

“One way to push our endeavors is to do what we can to promote the faculty to what they can by being rewarded,” he said. “In essence, to be encouraged to continue submitting grants and pursuing the passion for research.”

Sanberg said USF is one of the top research universities exploring the use of umbilical tissue stem cells for use in age-related and neurodegenerative disorders and will continue focusing on this research, as well as expanding USF’s presence as a top producer of patents.

In an email, Genshaft said both Holbrook and Sanberg are “instrumental in our success as a University.”

“They are a large part of the reason why USF is now 50th in the nation for federal research expenditures — and all research expenditures — as ranked by the National Science Foundation, for public and private universities,” she said. “And it’s why the Washington Post recently singled out USF as one of five “up and coming” universities to watch, citing the ‘sheer, impressive scale of its research and scholarship.’”