The University of North Florida appointed Kimberly Mayer as chief research officer. Mayer will begin the new position Aug. 18.
A June 24 news release from the university said she will be responsible for cultivating a strong research environment that aligns with UNF’s Strategic Plan Areas of Focus, overall mission and goals.
Mayer will work with faculty, staff, funding agencies, corporate partners, other universities and labs to advance new research and innovation opportunities, especially those that are interdisciplinary in nature.
“With a strong career in research at top-tier institutions in both academia and industry, Kimberly Mayer is a valuable addition to the University,” UNF Provost Karen Patterson said in the release. “Her expertise will be instrumental in helping our faculty pursue strategic and high-impact research initiatives.”
Mayer joins UNF from the University of Virginia, where she was associate vice president for research development since 2022.
Before UVA, Mayer was an associate vice president for research at The University of Texas at Arlington from 2019 to 2022 and interim executive director at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Innovation from 2020 to 2022. She was the executive director of California Institute of Technology’s Rosen Center for Bioengineering from 2015 to 2018 and managed the launch and growth of Caltech’s Biotechnology Leadership National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Program in Micro/Nanomedicine.
Before Caltech, Mayer led the Statewide Technology Commercialization team at the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center and spent four years as a senior scientist with an agricultural biotechnology startup company in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.
Mayer received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue University, an MBA from University of North Carolina Wilmington and a bachelor’s in biology from University of North Carolina at Charlotte.