Photograh by Bob Christy '95
About a year ago, practicing biochemist and heart disease expert Paul DiCorleto, PhD, decided it was time to do something different in the next stage of his career.
He had been heading the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic since 2002, managing a more than $250 million per year operating budget and helping start spin-off companies. He had also been chairing the Department of Molecular Medicine at Case Western Reserve University’s Case School of Medicine since 2003, and helped create a new doctoral program that trained beginning lab scientists to pursue disease-focused projects in collaboration with clinical investigators. He directed an NIH-funded laboratory researching the role of the endothelium in maintaining healthy blood vessels and in inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. And he had written or co-written more than 120 articles, papers and book chapters—in addition to other activities that filled the pages of his curriculum vitae.
But he was seeking a new challenge in Northeast Ohio, and it didn’t take him long to find one. DiCorleto accepted the position of vice president for research and sponsored programs at Kent State University, where one of his main duties will be to help faculty and staff secure external funding to support their research and public service projects. He began his new job in August.
“We are delighted that someone of Paul’s caliber and distinction has joined our leadership team,” says President Beverly Warren. After a national search, she made his role a cabinet-level position reporting directly to her. She looks to DiCorleto to advance one of her strategic priorities—enhancing Kent State’s research strengths while increasing the university’s global competitiveness in new areas of research, scholarship and innovation.
DiCorleto, who gained a perspective on public universities during seven years serving on Cleveland State University’s board of trustees, plans to bolster the strong research programs already in place and launch some new ones in order to position Kent State as a leading research university. “I envision a nationally recognized research mission that attracts high-quality researchers and students and encourages philanthropic contributions and partnerships,” he says. “It will be exciting and something I will have fun doing.”
I envision a nationally recognized research mission that attracts high-quality researchers and students and encourages philanthropic contributions and partnerships." -Paul DiCorleto