Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of New Mexico, Chaouki Abdallah, has accepted an executive vice president of research (EVPR) position at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA.
A press release from UNM on June 28 said Abdallah, a Georgia Tech alumnus with a master’s and doctorate degree in electrical engineering, “will direct Georgia Tech’s $824 million research program and be a part of the Institute’s four-member executive leadership team in his new position.”
The statement said “Abdallah will begin his work at Georgia Tech later this summer.”
UNM President Garnett Stokes reflected on Abdallah’s tenure at the University in a UNM press release and said “he is a talented educator, researcher and administrator” who is committed to student success.
“In the short time I have had the privilege to work with Provost Abdallah, I have found him to be a valuable and deeply insightful colleague with a deep appreciation for the important role of a public research institution,” Stokes said.
In a press release from Georgia Tech, Abdallah said he “is very excited to be joining one of the premier institutes of higher learning in the world.”
“I look forward to contributing to President Peterson's cabinet, to advocate for and lead the research enterprise at Georgia Tech, and to help ‘create the next’ in research,” he said.
According to the Georgia Tech release, Abdallah will be succeeding the first EVPR, Stephen Cross, who spent eight years at the position.
On June 24, the Daily Lobo reported Abdallah, the former interim UNM president, was “selected as a finalist” for the executive vice president position.
Abdallah told the Lobo that in addition to his educational history with Georgia Tech, some reasons for moving are personal.
“My wife is from Atlanta, and her family is there,” Abdallah said. “My kids are going to school there right now, so those are personal reasons. She would rather be close to her family and our kids.”
Abdallah told the Lobo he is unsure who will take over his position after he leaves UNM.
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Anthony Jackson is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @TonyAnjackson.
