Don Taylor appointed executive vice provost

G. Don Taylor, vice provost for learning systems innovation and effectiveness and interim vice president for research and innovation at Virginia Tech, is being promoted to executive vice provost, effective July 1.

In his new role, Taylor will report directly to Executive Vice President and Provost Cyril Clarke and will support day-to-day management activities for Virginia Tech’s academic enterprise, improve the overall strategic capabilities of the Provost’s Office, and develop and define tactics for gaining efficiencies through a systems approach. He will also serve and have oversight of the units led by vice provosts and will be responsible for institutional accreditation, matters involving the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and Virginia Tech’s Destination Areas program.

Taylor, who also holds a faculty appointment as the Charles O. Gordon Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering, will continue to serve as interim vice president for research and innovation until a new vice president is appointed.

“I am honored to serve Virginia Tech in this new capacity and to help advance our academic enterprise at such an exciting and transformational time in our university’s history,” said Taylor. “There is so much opportunity to further position and advance Virginia Tech as a global institution and so many talented faculty and staff throughout the commonwealth who are working collectively toward that goal. I am excited to serve and support a group of high quality vice provosts and academic leaders and look forward to partnering with them and their teams to help Virginia Tech achieve its strategic goals and to create new opportunities for our entire university community.”

“Don has served Virginia Tech with distinction as a department head, interim dean, vice provost, and interim vice president,” said Clarke. “The experience gained in these positions and his ability to work collaboratively with colleagues across the university will be invaluable, as we continue to meet the academic expectations of our comprehensive land-grant mission as well as position the university to take full advantage of new opportunities for service.

“As executive vice provost, Don will work closely with an extraordinarily talented team of vice provosts to facilitate accomplishment of their respective administrative responsibilities.”

As vice provost for learning systems innovation and effectiveness, Taylor has partnered and worked closely with the colleges and organizations across the campus to facilitate efforts to connect undergraduate and graduate student success with external organizations and employers and develop innovative ways to deliver curriculum across all university units. In his leadership of the Office of Research and Innovation, Taylor oversees the university’s research enterprise and advances its entrepreneurial culture to grow commercialization opportunities and build relationships with corporate and government partners.

A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2004, Taylor’s scholarship has focused on the simulation and optimization of complex systems and the logistics of material flow and freight transportation. While head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering from 2004 to 2016, the department twice received a University Exemplary Department Award; in 2007 for the development and execution of innovative and effective approaches to advising its undergraduate and graduate students, and again in 2012 for effectively linking assessment with instruction in order to improve student learning. From 2016 to 2017, Taylor served as interim dean of the College of Engineering.

Taylor is a Fellow and president emeritus of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). He chairs the board of IISE Solutions Inc. and is a Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Science.

Before coming to Virginia Tech, Taylor held the Mary Lee and George F. Duthie Endowed Chair in Engineering Logistics and was the director of the Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution at the University of Louisville.

He received his bachelor's degree and master’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts.