Published on Aug. 10, 2020

Updated on April 13, 2023

Dear campus community,

After nearly 40 years of service to Mizzou, Dr. Mark McIntosh — MU vice chancellor for research and economic development — is retiring. While Dr. McIntosh’s tremendous impact on Mizzou’s research and economic development initiatives will be missed, his decades of contributions to the university are a cause worth celebrating.

Dr. McIntosh will graciously remain in his role until a national search for his replacement concludes. To that end, the following search committee has been established:

• Richard Barohn, executive vice chancellor for health affairs
• Dawn Cornelison, professor, biological sciences
• Hannah Clampitt, MU Staff Council chair
• Zandra De Araujo, associate professor, College of Education
• Noah Manring, interim dean, College of Engineering
• John Middleton, Faculty Council chair and professor, College of Veterinary Medicine
• Susan Renoe, assistant vice chancellor for research, extension and engagement
• J. David Robertson, professor and director, MU Research Reactor
• Tori Schafer, Graduate Professional Council president
• Stephanie Shonekan, associate dean, College of Arts & Science, and professor of music
• Thomas Spencer, Curators Distinguished Professor, animal science
• Sarah Thompson, dean, Sinclair School of Nursing
• Anthony Tretter, Missouri Student Association president
• George Wilson, Black Graduate & Professional Student Association president
• Marsha Fischer, associate vice president of human resources and chief human resources officer (ex- officio)

Over the course of his career, Dr. McIntosh has made an indelible mark on Mizzou’s research output. Dr. McIntosh is nationally recognized for his work on iron transport in bacteria and bacterial genomics, and his expertise in basic science has given him a strong foundation and critical outlook to support research and creative advances at MU.

His leadership experience includes chairing the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology in the MU School of Medicine from 2002 to 2017. There, his vision involved establishing interdisciplinary collaborations between experts in virology, immunology and bacteriology and similar interests across campus. During his tenure as chair, productive alliances were formed to unite the MMI graduate program with that of the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

As the administrator of research at MU, Dr. McIntosh has been integral to the success of the university’s push to grow research expenditures. Under his leadership, expenditures at MU have increased significantly from $193M in FY15 to $235M in FY20. Additionally, because of his skills and leadership in building collaborations across campus, award totals have jumped more than $48M during his tenure.

Dr. McIntosh also spearheaded the development of several core facilities, and his division’s investments in these centralized, shared resources helped provide access to technologies and expertise for Mizzou researchers and staff. He was also instrumental in helping to form the foundation and the teams that are building the UM System’s number one capital priority: the NextGen Precision Health Institute.

Finally, under his leadership from 2016-2020, 16 Mizzou startup companies were created with MU licensed technologies and companies signed 200 license and option agreements, producing $33M in revenue for MU and generating profound impacts on local and state economies.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. McIntosh for his outstanding contributions to Mizzou and wishing him well in his future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Mun Y. Choi
Chancellor, University of Missouri
President, University of Missouri System