The Board of Regents on Thursday approved the appointment of S. Jack Hu, a professor in the College of Engineering, as the interim vice president for research for a two-year term, effective Jan. 1.
As vice president, Hu will have overall responsibility for nurturing the excellence and integrity of research across the entire campus.
He will oversee the U-M Office of Research, which encourages interdisciplinary research, oversees research policy, provides central administrative services in support of faculty research, scholarship, and economic outreach, and manages activities related to compliance and the responsible conduct of research.
Hu will continue to hold the titles of professor of mechanical engineering, professor of industrial and operations engineering, and the J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing Technology.
Hu succeeds Stephen R. Forrest, who announced in September that he would step down as vice president for research in January to return to research and teaching in CoE.
Since 2009, Hu has served as the associate dean for academic affairs in CoE. Previously, he was associate dean for research and graduate education.
From 2002-06, Hu was the director of the Program in Manufacturing and executive director of Michigan Interdisciplinary and Professional Engineering. Recently, he also has worked with the U-M President’s Office on President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a working group advising the administration on how to bolster American manufacturing.
A member of the U-M community since 1985, Hu’s teaching and research interests include manufacturing systems design and operations, assembly modeling, and statistical quality methods.
He has received a number of awards for his work, including the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the ASME William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award, the College of Engineering Research Excellence Award, and several best paper awards.
He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a fellow of the International Academy for Production Engineering. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Manufacturing Systems.
Hu received his Bachelor of Science degree from Tianjin University, China, in 1983, and Master of Science and doctoral degrees from U-M in 1986 and 1990, respectively.
“Professor Hu’s proven leadership skills, breadth and depth of experience, vision, and demonstrated commitment to the University of Michigan make him ideally suited for the responsibilities of interim vice president for research,” said President Mary Sue Coleman. “It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend his appointment to this key executive position.”
