Meredith Hay, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research
University of
Professor of Psychology
Iowa City,
Meredith Hay is the Vice President for Research for the University of Iowa. With a $2.1 billion dollar annual budget, the University of Iowa has an enrollment of over 29,600 students in 11 colleges, departments, and programs, many of which are ranked among the nation's best, according to U.S. News & World Report and other sources. The Vice President for Research reports directly to the President, serves as a member of the President’s Senior Staff, and provides central leadership to all of the university's research, scholarly, and creative programs, including the academic medical center. A vital area of activity for Dr. Hay’s office has been developing new opportunities for cross-campus interdisciplinary research and scholarly collaborations. She also is leading campus efforts in communicating the economic and social utility of University of Iowa research, scholarly, and creative activity at community, state, and federal levels.
Dr. Hay is a strong advocate, on multiple issues, for the University of Iowa both within local communities and across the State. She works closely with state and federal government leaders, private sector representatives, and local community groups to broaden both private and public support for the University. She led a significant reorganization of the University’s economic development efforts, with a focus on improving public engagement and access to the University, enhancing the University’s technology licensing and commercialization activities, and creating better opportunities for new University-initiated small business start-ups.
Her accomplishments at Iowa include the following: 1) Developed the strategy and is leading private, state, and federal efforts to raise funds for a $120 million Iowa Institute for Biomedical Discovery; 2) secured $18 million from the State Legislature for advancement of biomedical research programs; 3) leveraged a $1.2M State investment in regional economic development into a $16 million private partnership to build a new biotechnology incubator; 4) secured $36 million in State funds for a new public health laboratory, a project for which her office is overseeing design, development, and construction; 5) secured over $10 million of federally designated appropriations for University of Iowa biomedical and engineering related research; 6) spearheading with the College of Engineering a partnership with Rockwell Collins, Inc., a major Iowa aerospace company, to improve minority access to the University of Iowa via focus on K-12 science and math readiness; 7) reallocated internal support for Arts and Humanities Research to more than $750,000 per year; and 8) is leading the strategic planning with Vice President for Health Sciences and the CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to advance and increase the Carver College of Medicine national rankings.
In addition to her duties as Vice President for Research, Dr. Hay has continued to sustain a vigorous research program and leads an actively NIH-funded research laboratory in cardiovascular neurobiology. She is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics in the Carver College of Medicine and maintains active participation in the American Physiological Society, the Society for Neuroscience, AAAS, and serves on numerous editorial boards of prestigious scientific journals and grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the National American Heart Association. She has served on advisory committees for NASA and the Federation of Associated Societies for Experimental Biology.
Dr. Hay, a Texas native, earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado, Denver, and her M.S. in neurobiology from the University Texas at San Antonio, and her Ph.D. in cardiovascular pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1996, she was a faculty member in the Department of Physiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio.