Athens, Ga. — Gordhan Patel, who has been the University of Georgia’s vice president for research since 2001, announced today that he will retire from the university in September of 2005.
Patel will have been at UGA for nearly 38 years, including 13 years as dean of the Graduate School and eight years as head of the zoology (now cellular biology) department. Since joining UGA in 1967 as an assistant professor of zoology he has never worked anywhere else.
Patel said he is announcing his retirement plans now to allow sufficient time for a successor to be chosen. He said he will be available to work with his successor for a few months before he steps down at the end of next September.
“During my tenure I have witnessed UGA’s rise to national and international prominence,” Patel said. “I feel honored to have been a member of the entire university community that deserves credit for this accomplishment. I look forward to watching UGA rise to even higher standing in the near future.”
Patel became interim vice president in October of 2000 following the retirement of Joe Key. In the midst of a national search to fill the position permanently, the search committee asked UGA President Michael F. Adams for permission to interview Patel. The committee subsequently recommended that Adams appoint Patel, which he did in August of 2001.
“Gordhan is one of the country’s foremost academic research administrators, and his contributions to strengthening research and graduate studies at UGA are immense and lasting,” Adams said. “We are extremely fortunate to have had the benefit of his wisdom, vision and leadership for nearly four decades, and I know I speak for the entire university community in thanking him for his marvelous service, and saying that he will be sorely missed.”
As vice president, Patel has overseen major advances in research at UGA. External funding for research has risen from $102 million in the year before he became vice president to $159 million in the last fiscal year, while research expenditures have climbed from $272 million to more than $313 million annually. UGA ranks 22nd among public universities in total research spending and 34th among public and private institutions.
Patel has been a key player in UGA’s growing emphasis in health and medical research, supporting creation of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, the Cancer Center, the Regenerative Bioscience Center, the Institute of Bioinformatics and the new College of Public Health. He was also instrumental in helping form the Faculty of Engineering and a center for research in nanoscale science and engineering.
Research in genetics and bioscience has spawned several start-up companies through the Georgia BioBusiness Center, which reports to Patel. The university receives more than $4 million annually through licensing and royalties generated by research conducted by UGA faculty.
“Gordhan has provided distinguished service to the university throughout his career, and we are indebted to him for his leadership in significantly enhancing the breadth and depth of research and scholarship at UGA,” said Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “While I will greatly miss the daily professional and personal interaction with him, I wish him a long and rewarding retirement.”
Patel became dean of UGA’s Graduate School in 1989 and continued to hold that position for a year after he was appointed vice president. He was recognized as a national leader in the field of graduate education, serving as chair of the board of directors of the Council of Graduate Schools and president of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools. He received the conference’s award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education.
He started a minority recruitment program that has increased the number of African American and other minority graduate students and placed UGA among the nation’s leaders in awarding doctoral degrees to African Americans in certain disciplines.
A molecular biologist, Patel specialized in research on proteins involved in unwinding of the DNA double-helix, and how those proteins function in regulating genes. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the Atomic Energy Commission.
In 1971, Patel became the first scientist in Georgia to receive the National Science Foundation/NATO Senior Fellowship in Science, which he used to conduct research at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, Scotland.
He has published research findings in leading scientific journals and has been invited to lecture at universities and research institutes in Europe, Africa and throughout the U.S.
He is on the boards of the Graduate Record Exam and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), two major programs of Educational Testing Services. Previously he was on the executive committee of the Council on Research Policy and Graduate Education, a unit of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
Patel expressed appreciation to current and past members of the university’s central administration for their trust and support in his roles as a scientist, department head, dean and vice president.
“I am also indebted to the many faculty and staff colleagues who mentored and assisted me in discharging my responsibilities,” he added. “They are the ones who worked hard for the institution and made me look good as an administrator.”
Mace said a search committee will be formed soon to begin a national search for Patel’s successor.