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Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, has selected John A. Koropchak ’76 as its first vice chancellor for research and graduate dean, which he has held on an interim basis since 2001, when the trustees approved the new post to “demonstrate a renewed commitment to SIUC’s research, scholarship, and creative enterprises.”
Koropchak will work to increase graduate study, support the research and creative activities of the faculty, and increase SIUC’s success in obtaining federal grants and other external awards.
Koropchak joined the faculty in 1984 after three years as a research chemist at the U.S. Army’s Chemical Research and Development Center. He was promoted to full professor in 1994 and chaired the department of chemistry/biochemistry from 1995-98. He was acting associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and research and dean of the graduate school from 1999 to 2001.
In the last two years, Koropchak established a new funding program for graduate student recruiting and developed a performance-based budgetary model for the campus that emphasizes graduate programs and research. He also initiated a new program to support planning for large interdisciplinary research activities culminating in federal funding efforts.
A chemistry graduate, Koropchak received a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from University of Georgia. His teaching interests and specialties include instrumental and chemical methods of analysis, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and environmental and forensic chemistry.