Gerald Sonnenfeld named Clemson University's new vice president for research
May 28, 2010
CLEMSON, SC – May 27, 2010 – Clemson University President James F. Barker announced Wednesday that Gerald Sonnenfeld will be the university’s new vice president for research.
We had an exceptional field of candidates, Barker said. We are confident that Dr. Sonnenfeld offers the right combination of skills and experience to take Clemson’s research program to the next level. Our goal is to expand upon the success of increasing research funding and extend the scope of research across the university. We are very excited at the prospect of having him join the Clemson family.
Sonnenfeld will assume his responsibilities in the fall.
The opportunity to help lead the research activity at one of the nation’s great universities is exciting and challenging, he said. I was very impressed with the high quality of the faculty, students and staff. The desire at Clemson to really foster work that is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary and to move forward in new areas is very positive. This collaborative approach will help Clemson to find additional funding sources from government and industry.
Sonnenfeld comes to Clemson from Binghamton University, State University of New York, where he has been vice president of research and professor of biological sciences since 2004.
He received his bachelor of science in biology in 1970 from the City College of New York and his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology in 1975 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed postdoctoral training in infectious diseases and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1978. He then became an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and rose through the ranks to professor.
In 1993, Sonnenfeld became director of research immunology in the department of general surgery research of Carolinas Medical Center. From 1999 until 2004, he was professor and chairman of the department of microbiology, biochemistry and immunology and associate dean for basic sciences and graduate studies at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
The author of more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles, Sonnenfeld has written numerous review articles and edited two books. He holds two U.S. patents. He is associate editor of the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research and a member of the editorial board of the Immunological Journal and the Journal of Gravitational Physiology. His research has centered on the effects of stress on the immune system and resistance to cancer and infection. He also has directed multiple pre-clinical studies and has been involved in clinical study development for multiple immunoregulatory agents. He has carried out experiments on the U.S. Space Shuttle and on Russian space program satellites.
The university owes a great debt of gratitude to the search committee and Provost Doris Helms for leading this extensive and thorough search, Barker said. I offer them my personal thanks for their thoughtful and deliberative process.
