Renowned research provost to leave Penn

Vice Provost for Research Neal Nathanson announced his fourth retirement yesterday. "I retired as professor at Penn, then I was the vice dean for research, then I was the director of AIDS research at NIH and this one makes four," the renowned microbiologist said, outlining a distinguished career that saw him in the front ranks of the drive against polio and the AIDS virus. Nathanson "has overseen the successful transition of our research compliance efforts and truly helped make Penn a world leader in this area," University Provost Robert Barchi said in a press release. The University has only just begun efforts to find a successor, Nathanson said, adding that he was not involved in the search. Before coming to Penn, Nathanson logged two years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heading the Polio Surveillance Unit. The Harvard-educated medical doctor would later join the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, where he had done his post-doctoral training in virology, working in the School of Hygiene and Public Health and ultimately rising to the rank of professor and head of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Epidemiology. Immediately prior to coming to West Philadelphia, Nathanson served as the director of the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institute of Health from 1998 until his appointment at Penn in 2000. First chairing the Department of Microbiology, Nathanson also served as vice dean for research and research training at the University's School of Medicine. As the vice provost for research, Nathanson exercised policy and administrative oversight over the $500 million that makes up the University's research enterprise. He also played a key role in strategic planning, issues pertaining to human research and clinical trials and getting new technology from the research laboratory to the streets. A recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, the Pioneer in NeuroVirology Award and membership in the Society of Scholars at Johns Hopkins, Nathanson first rose to prominence for his groundbreaking work on the virology and epidemiology of polio. Still, despite the long list of achievements behind him, Nathanson continues to look to the road ahead. "Who knows what the future may bring?" he said. "It's like you guys" at The Daily Pennsylvanian, he added good-naturedly, "when one story's done, it's time to move on to the next."

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