Letter from Scripps Research President Richard Lerner

Appointments of Dean of the Faculty and Dean of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies

Research, training, and education activities have long been characterized by their interdisciplinary nature, and this trend has been accelerating in recent years. There are exciting new opportunities at the interface between scientific disciplines, but these opportunities also bring new challenges with regard to integrating research and education programs that span different laboratories, departments, and campuses, and the need to maintain common high standards across the institute.

Recently, we distributed responsibilities for faculty academic affairs including appointments and promotions, and postgraduate education and training among two faculty members with the goals of improving efficiency and providing new avenues for bringing the views of the faculty into the decision-making process at The Scripps Research Institute. In light of the success of this “experiment,” we are now formalizing the results with the appointments of Professor Gerald F. Joyce, M.D., Ph.D., as dean of the faculty, and Professor Jeffrey W. Kelly, Ph.D., as dean of graduate and postgraduate studies.

Jerry Joyce, who came to The Scripps Research Institute in 1989, holds joint appointments as professor in the Departments of Molecular Biology, the Department of Chemistry, and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. His groundbreaking work in the biochemistry of RNA and the development of novel RNA and DNA enzymes has won him membership in the National Academy of Sciences and the Academy’s Award in Molecular Biology; the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry; the Harold C. Urey Award; and the editorships of several leading research journals.

After receiving a B.A. from the University of Chicago, and both an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, he performed his internship at Scripps Mercy Hospital. He did postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute and as the Merck Fellow, Life Sciences Research Foundation.

As dean of the faculty, Jerry will be responsible for sustaining the environment of academic and professional excellence at Scripps Research. He will work closely with the president in administering the academic affairs of TSRI as they apply to the departments, faculty, and scientific staff. He will also continue to advise the president on the appointment and promotion of new and existing faculty and scientific staff.

Jeff Kelly came to Scripps Research from Texas A&M University in 1997 as Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry and a member of The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. In 2000, he was appointed vice president of academic affairs and dean of the soon-to-be-named Kellogg School of Science and Technology. Jeff’s internationally acclaimed work on the principals of protein folding and the basis for misfolding diseases has been recognized by the American Chemical Society’s Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, the Protein Society-Dupont Young Investigator Award, and the Biophysical Society National Lecturer Award, among others. His many significant papers have appeared in the world’s leading journals.

Jeff received a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University.

As dean of graduate and postgraduate studies, Jeff will oversee and administer the graduate program serving more than 220 Ph.D. candidates at the Kellogg School of Science and Technology, the Skaggs/Oxford Scholars Program, and the postdoctoral training program.

Please join me in congratulating Jerry and Jeff on their appointments and wishing them every success in the future.

Richard A. Lerner, M.D.
President
The Scripps Research Institute

Dean of the Faculty Gerald F. Joyce.

Dean of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies Jeffrey W. Kelly.