President Scholz sent the following message to faculty, staff, and students on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
To the University of Oregon community,
After a national search, Bethany Jenkins will join us as the University of Oregon’s next vice president for research and innovation, beginning Aug. 10.
Bethany joins us from the University of Rhode Island, where she is vice president for research and economic development and a professor of cell and molecular biology and oceanography. URI’s research enterprise has grown substantially under her leadership, and last year the university earned R1 status, the top tier of Carnegie research classification.
In a full-circle moment, Bethany returns to the UO, 26 years after earning her PhD here in chemistry in affiliation with our Institute of Molecular Biology. She is an accomplished researcher, having built a nationally recognized program in microbial oceanography while mentoring a generation of young scientists. She has also served the scientific community in elected positions, like chairing the Ocean and Carbon Biogeochemistry Steering Committee. She knows firsthand what it takes to win a grant, run a lab, and train new scholars.
Bethany also brings deep ties to the national organizations shaping the future of university research. She was recently elected to the executive committee of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Council on Research. At a moment when the federal landscape is uncertain and the case for public research has to be made and remade, having a leader who is connected, respected, and tested in exactly this environment matters.
In her conversations with us, Bethany talked about building on the strengths we already have, supporting the centers and institutes and the scholars who fill them, and connecting people with each other and to partners across the state. The breadth of research and creative practice at Oregon is remarkable. Our job now is to keep growing its reach and its impact, and Bethany will capably guide this work.
I want to thank Geri Richmond for her excellent leadership of the division during the transition, serving as interim vice president. I also want to thank the members of the search committee, chaired by Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Chief Financial Officer Jamie Moffitt, for their care and diligence throughout the process.
These are not easy times for higher education. But the thing I am most proud to talk about, wherever I go, is the work this community does: the research you produce, the students you teach, the lives you change. Bethany understands that work from the inside, and I am confident she will help us do even more of it.
Please join me in welcoming Bethany Jenkins back to the University of Oregon.
Sincerely,
Karl Scholz
President