Marsico Accepts Interim Post with Research and Arkansas Biosciences Institute

05/31/2023

JONESBORO - Travis Marsico has accepted appointment as interim vice provost for Research and Technology Transfer and executive director of the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at Arkansas State University, Len Frey, interim provost, announced this week.

Dr. Marsico replaces Dr. Tom Risch who is departing for the position of vice chancellor for research at Rutgers University in Camden, N.J.

"I'd like to thank Dr. Todd Shields, Dr. Len Frey, and Dr. Calvin White for entrusting me with this critically important position as we continue to grow research and access to research at A-State," he said.

The past year, Marsico has served as a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. Department of State. Marsico worked in the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, a division of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the State Department's intelligence wing. Marsico is the first researcher from the state of Arkansas to participate in the prestigious Jefferson Science Fellowship.

"I am thrilled by this opportunity to lead Research and Technology Transfer and the Arkansas Biosciences Institute to advance discovery and innovation originating here on campus. I look forward to working with faculty and staff to envision the next 20 years at ABI, as we approach the 20th anniversary of ABI on A-State's campus." Marsico will manage his new interim role remotely through July 16 when he will return from his fellowship to start full-time on July 17.

Prior to his JSF, Marsico was professor of botany and associate chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. He also oversees the A-State Herbarium (STAR), and was the inaugural recipient of the Chancellor's Medal for Research and Creative Activities in 2021.

"One of my primary goals is to remove barriers to research so that all faculty and students who have important questions to answer and products to create can do so with the support they need for success," Marsico said. "I will work across all units at A-State to expand research activities and creative endeavors."

Marsico joined A-State in 2010 as an assistant professor of botany. He was promoted to associate professor in 2014 then elevated to full professor of botany in 2019. He previously served in administrative roles for A-State, including two stints as the associate chair of the Department of Biological Sciences from July 2014 to April 2018, and then from July 2020 until taking up his fellowship at the State Department in August 2022. He was the interim chair of the department from May 2018 to June 2020.

A graduate of Arkansas Tech in biology, he earned his master's at the University of Arkansas and his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame.

"Though I will miss him greatly, I am excited for Dr. Risch and his next chapter. He has been a key mentor to me, and I know I have big shoes to fill," Marsico added. "I am up to the challenge and am grateful for all the support I feel as I come home to the Red Wolf Pack."

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