Robert Burger ’93, a former administrator in the nonprofit sector, has been appointed assistant provost for science and technology, Yale officials announced Wednesday.
Burger will help administer new scientific initiatives and fellowships, in addition to overseeing small renovation projects related to the sciences. In the long term, he may aid in public relations efforts to promote research activities at the University, he said.
Burger will support the deputies and associates in the Provost’s Office in addressing the rapidly changing face of science at Yale, Deputy Provost Charles Long said. The science and technology team has been low on manpower because Kim Bottomly, the deputy provost for science and technology, is also responsible for faculty development initiatives, Long said.
“We were shorthanded in science and technology, just at a time when we were investing a lot of energy and funds in the physical sciences,” Long said.
Burger, who holds a doctorate in geological sciences from the University of Texas at Austin, formerly helped direct the U.S. Science Support Program of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. The group, based in Washington, D.C., is a coalition of institutions that cooperate on large-scale oceanographic research projects.
Burger said he was interested in the assistant provost job because it provides an academic spin on his old position, which involved working with scientists from different backgrounds.
“This is kind of an analogous position in that I will have contact with lots of different faculty members doing fascinating research,” he said. “It’s a good mesh and a good opportunity.”
Burger started work on Monday, and is currently the only assistant provost working in the office. A search committee is seeking to fill a second assistant provost position in biomedical and health affairs.