Law professor Fred Cate named to top IU research post
Editor's note: This story from The Bloomington Herald-Times is being published here as a courtesy for readers of IU in the News.
By Kat Carlton
Indiana University law professor Fred Cate has been named to the university’s top research post by IU President Michael McRobbie.
As vice president for research, Cate will oversee the launch of the university’s Grand Challenges initiative and conduct a review of his role responsibilities. He will also facilitate public-private partnerships and technology transfer and aim to increase collaborative research opportunities.
The Grand Challenges are a part of McRobbie’s Strategic Plan and are meant to address large-scale problems of humanity and are still in the process of being identified.
“It’s exciting, because it’s new money directing research towards real problems,” Cate said.
Cate is an IU distinguished professor, C. Ben Dutton professor of law, senior fellow at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and the director for the Center for Law, Ethics and Applied Research in Health Information.
“The thing I’m going to miss most is teaching,” he said. “I love teaching, I’ve taught for 25 years. The idea of going without — frankly, it’s a little sad.”
Cate said he plans to stay on as senior fellow of the cybersecurity research center and work on his own research. He also said he thinks the university does a good job of fostering partnerships with government organizations and corporations, which he said he hopes to develop further.
“That’s an area that’s really critical with research,” he said. “The key is getting it translated so it affects people’s lives.”
Cate succeeds Jorge Jose, who will step down July 31. Jose will serve as Rudy professor of pPhysics at IU Bloomington and as a member of the department of cellular and integrative physiology at the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis. During Jose’s five-year tenure, IU saw an 18 percent increase in federally funded research to a record $534 million in research expenditures in the past fiscal year.
The IU Board of Trustees is expected to formally approve the appointment at its regular meeting in August.