Skip to main content
Multiple images of researchers working in the field. The first image shows two student researchers, looking at a laptop by a stream in their high boots and weighters. The second image is a close up shot of a student researcher looking at creatures in glass containers. The third image shows two professors, wearing safety glasses, about to pour liquid nitrogen. The fourth image shows a researcher in the lab. The fifth image shows a group of researchers looking at foliage in plastic bags. The sixth image shows two researchers taking images for the library archive, one is standing on a stool while the other holds books open.

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research oversees, develops and supports UNC’s $1 billion research enterprise. It sets strategic priorities for research, manages proposals and awards, provides research infrastructure, identifies funding opportunities, develops research teams and partnerships, and oversees regulatory compliance, ethics, and conflict of interest management.

Portrait of Terry Magnuson.

Dr. Terry Magnuson, UNC Vice Chancellor for Research

Kay M. & Van L. Weatherspoon Eminent Distinguished Professor of Genetics, UNC School of Medicine
Founding Chair, UNC Department of Genetics

“Cures and treatments for disease. New technologies. New industries for North Carolina and the world. At Carolina, we tackle tough challenges with multidisciplinary teams of top scientists and students whose diverse perspectives deliver creative, unprecedented solutions. As one of America’s top research universities, we conduct roughly $1 billion in research annually. We provide dedicated service to our sponsors and unprecedented opportunities for graduate students, postdocs and undergraduates.”

— Dr. Terry Magnuson



Terry Magnuson, Kay M. & Van L. Weatherspoon Eminent Distinguished Professor and founding chair of the UNC Department of Genetics, became UNC’s vice chancellor for research on July 1, 2016. In this role, he leads a campus-wide research program that attracts more than $1 billion in contract and grant funding annually; connects academic units across campus with university priorities; and manages research support offices as well as 13 centers and institutes.

Magnuson, a geneticist who studies chromatin and gene expression in various diseases, joined the UNC School of Medicine in 2000 to create its $245 million-backed genetics and genomics program. He also directed the pan-campus Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, developed the Cancer Genetics Program within the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and in 2010 was named vice dean for research in the School of Medicine.

He is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. In 2014, he was appointed to the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils, an exclusive group of the top minds in the nation charged with guiding research projects that transcend the National Institute of Health’s centers and institutes. He’s also a founding member of the International Mammalian Genome Society and has served on the board of directors for both the Society for Developmental Biology and the Genetics Society of America.

tmagnuson@unc.edu
CB 4000
312 South Building
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-400
Ph: 919-962-1319
Fax: 919-962-1476


Bridget Riordan is the Executive Assistant for the Vice Chancellor. Ms. Riordan is responsible for the Vice Chancellor’s calendar and works closely to help prepare and review presentations, reports and travel coordination.

briordan@unc.edu
919-962-1319


Jo Ann Gustafson serves as Director of Operations and Senior Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research. She is responsible for the management of all administrative functions. These include day-to-day management of all activities and procedures and oversight of budget and personnel administration within the organization. Ms. Gustafson serves as the HR Officer for the Research Division.

CB 4000
312 South Building
Chapel Hill
joann_gustafson@unc.edu
919-962-1319

Tonya Watkins serves as Director for Research Division Financial Services. She leads the finance, accounting, budget, and financial services operations of the second largest research generating division on campus. She directs the planning of shared financial and research administration services for the research division as a whole, and oversees the provision of these services to OVCR administrative offices, centers, and institutes. Ms. Watkins also represents UNC Research on campus finance committees, and serves as the MOU for the division.

100 Europa Drive
Suite 365
CB 2212
Chapel Hill
jenkins7@ad.unc.edu
919-962-0217


Meet the rest of UNC Researchʼs organizational leadership.