National-labs scientist to lead MTSU industry outreach

Veteran of Sandia, Battelle and DoD research is named MTSU vice provost

Email | Print By Milt Capps

Dr. Michael Allen

In an effort to beef up its national research reputation, Middle Tennessee State University has named Dr. Michael Allen vice president for research and dean of graduate studies.

Allen's hiring is the latest step in the university's bid to have a larger role in the nation's research agenda. He was previously vice president for research at Texas Tech University, where he helped create 13 research centers and institutes and forged a partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, a sister-institution to Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

He likely will lead MTSU's involvement in the emerging Middle Tennessee Technology Corridor initiative, an effort spurred by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Murfreesboro) and managed by a coalition created by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. Allen is traveling and couldn't be reached for comment.

MTSU sponsored research garnered about $31 million in fiscal year 2006, up from $21.2 million in 2005. During the past two years, MTSU invested about $2.7 million of campus funds in improving its research infrastructure and organization, and has made a fresh push to develop and commercialize intellectual property spawned on campus. State funding has also improved research and teaching facilities.

Allen earned his bachelor's in nuclear engineering and a master's degree in radiological engineering at Texas A&M University. He earned his Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the University of California at Davis.

He served 23 years in research management and senior scientific roles with Sandia National Laboratories at Albuquerque; Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash.; the Laboratory for Energy-related Health Research at Davis, Calif.; and at the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute at Albuquerque.

He also served briefly as a senior technical advisor in the office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense; as associate director of research at the University of Texas at Amarillo; and as chief technical officer for defense contractor Lockheed Martin Advanced Environmental Systems.