December 23, 2011
Rimmer named associate vice chancellor-research
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A geology professor with a strong background in graduate education is the new associate vice chancellor for research at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Susan Rimmer, professor of geology, has accepted the position, said John A. Koropchak, vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school at SIU Carbondale. Pointing to Rimmer’s administrative experience at aspirant institutions such as Penn State and the University of Kentucky, Koropchak said the University is fortunate to hire her.
“(Rimmer) has a wealth of experience in higher education,” Koropchak said. “Sue's career has come back full circle, as she began her academic career with a bachelor's degree from SIU Carbondale. She has a passion for our culture of research excellence that is tied to providing our students with cutting-edge experiences.
“I am confident that she will provide great help to our faculty in their efforts to achieve even greater heights of research success,” Koropchak said.
Rimmer said research is an integral part of the University, and integrating it into teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is essential.
“I look forward to working with (Koropchak) and the faculty and staff to help promote research across campus, and to help advance interdisciplinary research in particular,” Rimmer said. “I am obviously very excited to have been offered this position and I am looking forward to the challenges.”
In her new role, Rimmer will advise and assist Koropchak in leading and advocating for research, scholarly and creative efforts at SIU Carbondale. Such activities also include preparing reports and coordinating campus-recognition activities, such as the annual Research Town Meeting. Among other duties, she will supervise central research support facilities, including the Central Research Shop, Integrated Microscopy and Graphics Facility, Laboratory Animal Program, Mass Spectrometry Facility and the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility. She also will manage internal grants programs and provide Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) education for faculty and students, as well as workshops and training to faculty and students on research-related issues.
Rimmer also will support faculty efforts to obtain external funding and assist in the development and revision of research compliance policies.
Rimmer earned her doctorate in 1985 in geology at The Pennsylvania State University. She earned a Master of Science degree in geology in 1978 at the University of Illinois-Urbana and her Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 in geology at SIU Carbondale.
Rimmer began her professional career in 1975 as a researcher at the Illinois State Geological Survey. In 1979 she became a graduate research assistant in the Coal Research Section at Penn State University, becoming a technical editor of a Department of Energy program in 1982 and a research fellow there in 1983. In 1984 she became an instructor in geology at the University of Kentucky, moving up through the ranks to full professor of earth and environmental sciences there in 2008. She came to SIU Carbondale as a professor of geology in 2009.
In 2010, Rimmer became the graduate program coordinator in the Department of Geology at SIU Carbondale. Her previous administrative experience at the University of Kentucky includes serving as director of graduate studies in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences; associate dean for advanced studies in the College of Arts and Sciences; director of graduate studies in the Department of Geological Sciences and director of undergraduate studies in that department, as well.