Texas Tech Names Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs, Dean of Graduate School

Texas Tech University today (Dec. 2) named Mark Sheridan to the position of Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School. Sheridan, who assumes his role in March, currently is associate dean in the College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies and director of the Cellular and Molecular Biology Program at North Dakota State University.

“Following an exhaustive and thorough search by the committee, we have selected a talented and well-respected individual to lead our graduate program into the future,” said Texas Tech President M. Duane Nellis. “Dr. Sheridan has been recognized numerous times by his peers for his dedication and leadership in higher education through teaching, mentoring and research.”

The Jordan A. Engberg Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at NDSU, Sheridan previously served for four years as the director of the North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a federal-state-private sector collaboration to enhance research infrastructure, and as the director of the Regulatory Biosciences Center at NDSU for 10 years. The Fullerton, Calif., native began his career at NDSU in 1985 as an assistant professor in zoology.

Sheridan’s dedication to student development is reflected in his service to NDSU’s student mentoring program throughout his career. Additionally, he has mentored fellow faculty and visiting scientists to the university.

“The role of the Graduate School is critical in advancing research and creative scholarship at Texas Tech University,” said Texas Tech Interim Provost Lawrence Schovanec. “Dr. Sheridan fills a very important leadership position and I know that he will do an excellent job in helping our university achieve its ambition to be a great public research university. I am very pleased and excited that he will be joining the Texas Tech community.”

Sheridan is a respected researcher worldwide in the areas of comparative physiology/biochemistry and endocrinology, and has held visiting professorships in Japan, China, Sweden, Brazil, Canada and Taiwan. By invitation, he’s made more than 30 presentations nationally and internationally and has more than 140 peer-reviewed papers.

“With the dedicated work of its faculty, staff and students and with tremendous support from its alumni and friends, Texas Tech is at a unique point in its history and poised to emerge as a premier national research university,” Sheridan said. “Graduate programs will play a prominent role in that emergence, and I am pleased to join Texas Tech at this exciting time.”