It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Yvonne Harris, who has served as Associate Vice President, Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED) for the last five years, is leaving to serve as Vice President of the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships at Northern Illinois University (NIU). We thank her for her leadership and her commitment to student-centered success and wish her all the best in her new position.

Dr. Harris came to Sac State in 2018 from James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, VA, where she had been vice provost for research and scholarship for four years. Before that, she was associate vice president for grants and research administration at Chicago State University, dean of the mathematics and science division at William Rainey Harper College, in Palatine, IL, and department chair for biology and biotechnology at Truman College of the City Colleges of Chicago.

The new position will be a homecoming for Dr. Harris as she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Science at NIU. She will lead NIU’s growing research and innovation enterprise, with responsibilities including developing and implementing the vision, plan, and policies of her division, as well as overseeing all aspects of the university’s research infrastructure, operations, research facilities and compliance. NIU is a Carnegie-classified R2 university and its non-COVID-19-related sponsored funding for research, instruction and other activities has grown by more than 50% since 2018, to nearly $50 million.

During her tenure at Sac State, Dr. Harris maintained high standards of excellence for our university’s research mission, overseeing the securement of millions of dollars in grant money and supporting countless faculty, staff, and student research initiatives. Dr. Harris’ work at ORIED, such as securing $3 million in federal funding to help South Sacramento residents improve access to technology, impacted the entire region and helped us fulfill our strategic imperatives as an Anchor University. Although I am sorry to see Yvonne leave us, I am grateful we had her guiding our research work for five years and I know she will be a valued asset at NIU.

As we begin this next chapter at ORIED, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal will step in as Interim Associate Vice President of ORIED, starting after Dr. Harris’ departure in mid-July.

Dr. Jawa currently serves as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering & Computer Science. He has thirty years of experience as an academic administrator; professor of engineering; community organizer; industry professional; and pioneering entrepreneur. Dr. Jawa has published more than fifty papers on a variety of engineering topics, including biomimicry, design, and pedagogy. He has secured more than $10 million (as Pi/Co-Pi), including funding from public agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, and private foundations such as Motorola and Time Warner. He has developed a public voice in education as a columnist for The Huffington Post and Inside Higher Ed, writing on topics pertinent to K-12 and higher education.

Dr. Jawa is a recipient of the California State University System’s highest honor, the Wang Family Excellence Outstanding Faculty Award. Other awards he has earned include California State Polytechnic University’s Provost’s Award, the Northrop Grumman Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the ASEE Pacific Southwest Award. His TEDx talk, ″Becoming a Better Teacher″ has been ranked among the top five talks featuring inspiring educators.

His contributions to research and leadership in forging opportunities for young women and underrepresented communities in STEM have marked him as an exemplary educator and conscientious community member. Dr. Jawa co-founded the Femineer Program, a White House-recognized initiative that reaches 2,000+ Hispanic middle and high-school female students across 124 schools. At Sac State, Dr. Jawa founded Tech Art Program, a K-12 outreach program designed to inspire and empower underrepresented minority students and build a pipeline of Black middle/high school students into Sacramento State’s engineering program. He is a hands-on, engaging educator who focuses on building partnerships with industry and the local community.

Please join me in thanking Yvonne Harris for her service and leadership and welcoming Dr. Jawa as Interim Associate Vice President of ORIED.

Sincerely,