OIST faculty member, Amy Shen, assumes the role of Provost
On October 1, 2022, Professor Amy Shen assumed the role of OIST’s Provost. She has been a faculty member here since August 2014.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to serve OIST and thankful to the President of OIST for the confidence he has shown in me by making this appointment,” Professor Shen said. “I view this role as a service to this community that I value.”
Professor Shen leads the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit. Her research focuses on microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip devices at the bio/nano-interface, with applications in biotechnology.
Prior to joining OIST, Professor Shen was a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. She holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States.
Professor Shen is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Society of Rheology. She has won numerous awards, including the NSF CAREER Award and the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. Professor Shen was also a Fulbright Scholar in 2013. She is an associate editor for Soft Matter and serves on editorial advisory boards for ACS Sensors, Journal of Rheology, and Physics of Fluids.
At OIST, the Provost leads all academic and research efforts, coordinating between the Dean of Graduate School, the Dean of Faculty Affairs, and the Dean of Research. The position is also responsible for Research Support Services with Core facilities, and overall research support functions required for research activities (excluding the items that are under the responsibility of the Dean of Faculty Affairs). The position is appointed by the president.
“Dr. Shen knows how OIST works and has a clear vision for continuing this university’s growth in research, education, and innovation,” President Gruss said. “I anticipate that research at OIST will flourish under her leadership.”
She has extensive administrative experience at OIST having chaired the Appointment and Promotion Committee and served on committees for faculty tenure evaluation, faculty liaison with the graduate school, graduate admission, space allocation, and conferences and workshops. She has also served on search committees for faculty, president, dean for research, and dean for faculty affairs.
Professor Shen is working to meet with each faculty member early in her term, a process that she began in August. Additionally, she has initiated a Provost Lecture Series that will highlight faculty career milestones. “My promise is to approach the duties of Provost with optimism, inclusiveness, and humility, and to do much more listening than talking.”
Written by: Rhett Register
