Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to share that Gene Robinson has been appointed as the new Executive Director and CEO of the Discovery Partners Institute, pending Board of Trustees approval for a three-year term.
Gene is a distinguished scholar and leader whose career reflects a strong commitment to advancing interdisciplinary research, institutional partnership and inclusive innovation. His leadership will support DPI’s continued integration with campus priorities and its growing role within the Chicago innovation landscape. Gene will retain research affiliation with IGB and support the transition as plans for new leadership evolve at the IGB.
As DPI continues to evolve in this next chapter and strengthen its role within the Chicago tech ecosystem, Gene’s leadership will support deeper engagement with faculty, research and academic programs and students across our campus. We look forward to working with Gene, and all of you, to advance DPI’s mission in partnership with colleges and units across the Urbana-Champaign campus.
A campus town hall to discuss the future of DPI and how all of campus can integrate into it will be held on Thursday, January 29, from 3-4pm at the Illini Union. An invitation to participate in this town hall will be going to faculty campuswide later this week.
We look forward to the opportunities ahead, to Gene’s leadership, and to continued campuswide collaboration to make DPI a success for our university. Please look for forthcoming information regarding the campus-wide town hall where we will discuss and solicit feedback on how to better collaborate on the future of DPI.
Sincerely,
Rashid Bashir
Dean, The Grainger College of Engineering
Vice Chancellor, Chicago Strategic Partnerships, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign