Research head to resign post

Vice Provost for Research Ralph Amado will resign from his post shortly, but will remain at the University as a professor in the Physics Department, Provost Robert Barchi announced at yesterday's University Council meeting. Amado was named to the position in July 1996 following a year spent as acting Vice Provost. He said he decided to step down because he was near the end of his five-year contract. "I'm fairly senior and I've been at this a long time," Amado said last night. Amado, who began teaching at Penn in 1959, received his doctoral degree from Oxford University. While at Penn, he has served as the chairperson of the Physics Department and as former director of the National Science Association. As Vice Provost for Research, Amado has had policy and administrative oversight for the University's massive research enterprise. Currently, Penn's externally funded research budget totals $477 million and has been increasing dramatically over the past several years. A nationwide search for a replacement will begin soon, Barchi said, adding that he wants to have the now-part-time position exist as a full-time job in the future because of the magnitude of Penn's research projects, whose grants total hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Amado said he has no preference between an internal or an external replacement. "I would like to see someone with an established record in researching," Amado said. Though he has overseen a thriving research element of the University -- including increased funding from the National Institute of Health and large personal donations during his tenure -- Amado said he is not concerned that top-notch research endeavors would be any less of a priority once he steps down. "Research at Penn is so incredibly healthy and dynamic," Amado said. "This is an enormous enterprise." Several weeks ago, Amado was sent a package containing a large steel meat cleaver, which he suspected might have been as a result of his research activities. He said his decision to step down had been made long before the meat cleaver incident and was not at all influenced by the package.

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