Robert Buhrman, director of Cornell's Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), has been named vice provost for research. He succeeds Nobel laureate Robert Richardson, who will become senior science adviser to Provost Carolyn (Biddy) Martin and President David Skorton.

Buhrman (Ph.D. '73) will lead the office that guides and manages universitywide research efforts and steers local, national and international outreach for Cornell research.

While attending to research policy at the highest level on campus, Buhrman will oversee the four national research centers and 12 Cornell research centers that report directly to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. In his new role Buhrman also will be responsible for the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization, the Center for Animal Resources and Education, and several other research administrative offices.

"I am delighted that Bob Buhrman has agreed to assume this role, which is one of the most important in the university," said Martin. "He will bring a long history of research excellence, administrative experience, high standards and great intelligence to the post. He will steer our efforts to enhance an already outstanding research program, and will have a significant impact on science policy both locally and nationally. He will continue the distinguished service provided by our colleague Bob Richardson. Buhrman will also benefit from the superb work Steve Kresovich has done as interim vice provost for research over the past semester."

Skorton, commenting on the appointment, said, "Bob Buhrman is a great scientist with significant projects under way. The university is fortunate that he will assume the responsibility, so ably pioneered by Bob Richardson, a true Cornell gem. I have every confidence in Bob Buhrman's leadership at the head of Cornell's enormously productive research enterprise, the success of which we owe to the commitment and hard work of our faculty and staff."

Buhrman, the John Edson Sweet Professor of Engineering in Cornell's School of Applied and Engineering Physics, joined the faculty in 1973. His current research interests include nanomagnetics, condensed matter physics at the nanometer scale and thin film materials and device physics.

A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Materials Research Society, Buhrman plans to continue his research while juggling his duties as vice provost. He will step down as director of CNS.

"Continuing my research interests is going to be a major challenge, but it is something that I am absolutely committed to doing," said Buhrman. "It's important to have the exposure of a researcher while you are trying to help other researchers, and working with graduate students, undergraduates and other collaborators on challenging research problems remains my greatest pleasure as a faculty member at Cornell."

Richardson became Cornell's first vice provost for research in 1998. He has represented the university on federal committees and has positioned Cornell to use its strengths in obtaining federal research funding.

"As Cornell's first vice provost for research, Bob Richardson selflessly applied his brilliance, generosity and unique understanding of the nation's science agenda to defining the course and success of Cornell's impressive research enterprise," said Martin.

For example, Richardson was a co-author of a 2005 national academies of science report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," calling for an urgent need to bolster United States science and technology competitiveness to keep pace with rapid globalization.

In his new position, Richardson will continue to represent Cornell nationally. He will also continue to serve as the director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell, a think tank charged with exploring the major challenges and opportunities for the science of very small structures.

"Bob's shoes are very big ones to fill," said Buhrman. "He has been a tremendous advocate for research here at Cornell, and I am delighted and relieved that he will be continuing to add his insights and expertise to our efforts."

A Cornell faculty member since 1967, Richardson has led an active research program to study matter at very low temperatures. In 1996, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with David M. Lee, Cornell professor of physics, and Douglas Osheroff (Cornell Ph.D. 1973), now a physics professor at Stanford University. They received the prize for their 1971 discovery that the helium isotope helium-3 can be made to flow without resistance -- a state called superfluidity -- at about two-thousandths of a degree above absolute zero.