Statistician and Virginia Tech dean Sally C. Morton will head ASU's Knowledge Enterprise, ASU announced Nov. 23.
Morton will replace interim Executive Vice President Neal Woodbury who has served as interim director since Sethuraman Panchanathan left to take on the position of director of the National Science Foundation in June.
Morton will be the first woman to lead the Knowledge Enterprise since it was founded in 2010. She will begin her new position on Feb. 1, 2021.
READ MORE: Trump nominates Sethuraman Panchanathan to head NSF
The ASU Knowledge Enterprise “advances research, innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship and international development” according to its website.
Morton is currently a professor of statistics and dean of the College of Science at Virginia Tech. She focuses on using statistics and data science to improve decision making for patients in health care, According to Virginia Tech's website. Morton has worked on clinical and societal topics including health care quality, homelessness, mental health and substance abuse.
The Knowledge Enterprise is composed of interdisciplinary institutions such as the Biodesign Institute and the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation.
According to its website, more than 135 companies have been launched based on the innovations at ASU, with 18 new start-ups in fiscal year 2019.
Previously Morton served as the head of the RAND Corporation Statistics Group, a nonprofit research organization that "provides objective analysis and effective solutions" for challenges faced by public and private sectors worldwide, according to their website.
Morton said there is no more important time to be doing “research of importance to our society” in an interview with ASU Now.
“We need to do so using transdisciplinary approaches, integrated into our educational mission, and in partnership with industry and our communities,” Morton said. “ASU Knowledge Enterprise is the place to make this difference”
Reach the reporter at aegould3@asu.edu or follow @agouldphotos on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
Alex Gould is one of the editors of the photo desk. He is also currently working with The Arizona Republic as an intern photographer, Cronkite News as a visual journalist and working on assets for Arizona PBS.
