We are excited to share the projects that will be funded through the It Takes a Volunteer: 2023-25 Cluster Hiring Initiative, a $50 million total investment over five years to recruit faculty into interdisciplinary clusters to address some of the most pressing challenges and exciting opportunities of our times.
- Precision Health and Environment, led by Tami Wyatt (College of Nursing) and Chris Cox (Tickle College of Engineering)
- Food and Nutrition Security, led by Hollie Raynor (College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences)
- Bioinformatics, Genomics, and Quantitative-based Solutions for Food Security, led by DeWayne Shoemaker (UTIA)
- Advancing UT’s National Prominence in Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry, led by Joe Zhuang (UTIA)
- Science-Informed Artificial Intelligence, led by Vasileios Maroulas (College of Arts and Sciences)
- Foundational Artificial Intelligence – Closing the Gap to Human Intelligence, led by Hairong Qi (Tickle College of Engineering)
- Future Mobility, led by Kevin Heaslip (Tickle College of Engineering)
The initiative generated 51 letters of intent and 18 proposals. We deeply appreciate the dedication and creativity of all participating faculty. Their ideas were innovative and inspiring. The proposals also reflected our Volunteer ideals to create knowledge and opportunities that benefit communities in our state, nation, and around the world.
We are also grateful to the faculty reviewers who evaluated the letters of intent and proposals. Their thoughtful feedback and guidance were crucial to the process.
The selection is just the first step. We are confident that these proposals will attract outstanding faculty to UT, foster translational research that makes life and lives better, and prepare UT graduates to lead in the communities and workplaces of tomorrow.
Donde Plowman
Chancellor
John Zomchick
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
Deborah Crawford
Vice Chancellor for Research