Dr. Jeffrey R. Seemann
Dr. Jeffrey R. Seemann is Vice President for Research at Texas A&M University, where he leads the Division of Research and Graduate Studies. He is also a professor in the Departments of Biology and Biochemistry/Biophysics.
Dr. Seemann is an internationally recognized plant biologist with research interests in the ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of photosynthesis and global change. Prior to his arrival at Texas A&M, Dr. Seemann served a very successful tenure as Dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences and Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Rhode Island, where he also served as Director of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station and Rhode Island Cooperative Extension. In addition, Dr. Seemann was appointed by the Governor to co-chair the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council and to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Slater Technology Fund, the state’s venture capital organization. Prior to that, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine and College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno.
In the course of his personal research career, Dr. Seemann has been awarded more than $24 million in research funding from state and federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed publications in major journals, including Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and is listed by Current Contents as one of the top 250 most cited researchers in the world in the area of plant and animal sciences. He has received numerous awards and honors in the course of his career, including the Workforce Development Award presented by the Rhode Island Technology Council in 2004.
As Vice President for Research, Dr. Seemann is committed to working with the faculty, staff, and administrators as the university stakes out an ambitious agenda, which includes establishing Texas A&M as one of the top 10 public universities in the nation by the year 2020. He leads a host of programs and initiatives furthering research, scholarship, and creative activity at Texas A&M, as well as overseeing the university’s critical research support operations including research compliance, proposal development, comparative medicine program, and the Microscopy and Imaging Center. Dr. Seemann is actively engaged in leading the effort to redefine the vision and mission of the Texas A&M University Research Park to position it as a catalyst for research and commercialization activity at Texas A&M and as a vehicle for economic development in the Brazos Valley and the State of Texas. Dr. Seemann also serves on the Houston Technology Center Advisory Board and the Research Valley Partnership Board of Directors.
Dr. Seemann received his bachelor’s degree with honors from Oberlin College with a major in biology, and his doctoral degree from Stanford University in biological sciences.
