Following a national search, Kansas State University has named bioengineering expert Karen Burg as its vice president for research.
Burg has been serving as interim vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at Clemson University since 2011. Beginning Aug. 3, she will lead Kansas State University’s research mission in support of the goals of K-State 2025.
“Karen Burg is a transformative leader who will guide us toward our goal of becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025,” said Kirk Schulz, president. “Her energy and vision will help support our productive faculty as we expand one of the university’s core missions.”
Burg succeeds Ron Trewyn, who will transition to the role of liaison between Kansas State University and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, the federal laboratory for animal health being built adjacent to campus.
“I am delighted to join the Wildcat family and serve as Kansas State University’s vice president for research,” Burg said. “I look forward to working with faculty, staff and students to further the research, scholarly and creative activities, and discovery mission. Together we will fulfill the K-State 2025 vision.”
Burg also will be a professor of chemical engineering at Kansas State University. As a bioengineer, her research has centered on absorbable polymers, biofabrication and tissue engineering.
“I have known Karen Burg for almost 20 years,” said Darren Dawson, whose appointment as dean of the College of Engineering begins July 1. “Karen is exceptionally qualified and well-known, and has been highly respected during her time at Clemson University. I am looking forward to working with her as we both take on new responsibilities at K-State.”
At Clemson, Burg has been the Hunter endowed chair, a professor of bioengineering and has directed the Institute for Biological Interfaces of Engineering. From 2007 to 2011 she was Clemson’s interim vice provost for research and innovation. Before that, she directed several of Clemson’s laboratories.
Burg has co-edited three books, published more than 30 book and encyclopedia chapters, and has nearly 90 refereed journal publications to her name. Her research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA.
Burg earned recognition as an early career researcher, receiving a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2002 and a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Award in 2001. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a fellow of the American Council on Education. Burg is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Sigma Xi and other professional societies.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University, followed by a master’s and a doctorate in bioengineering from Clemson. Her postdoctoral fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., focused on tissue engineering.
