Anthony Koppers, an international expert in large-scale geodynamic processes and marine geology, has been named senior advisor to Oregon State University Vice President for Research Irem Tumer.

Koppers, associate dean for research in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences since 2019 and a member of the college’s faculty since 2007, will start in his new role Nov. 22.

“I’m really excited to join the Research Office and to help make the university’s research enterprise even stronger and more impactful,” Koppers said. “The experience I have gained in CEOAS in building and managing large research programs and facilities will transfer well to the Research Office as we bolster and grow the university’s research enterprise to significantly increase the reputation of OSU as a globally recognized R1 institution.”

Koppers will focus on research advancement and development and making Oregon State more competitive for large proposal submissions, state matching opportunities and federal appropriations, Tumer said.

He will work with Tumer and Provost Ed Feser in establishing a new program to enhance OSU researchers’ ability to compete for and lead large collaborations that strive for transdisciplinary solutions to global challenges such as food, water and energy security and climate change.

Koppers has held several leadership roles in the International Ocean Discovery Program that culminated in the 2050 Science Framework that underpins the future of scientific ocean drilling in the United States.

As a CEOAS associate dean, Koppers oversaw the restoration of Burt 2 Hall following a fire in late 2018 and guided the college in keeping its large research enterprise highly productive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Koppers directs a mass spectrometry facility at OSU that specializes in determining the age of geological materials. He is also co-director of the largest of the nation’s four National Science Foundation-funded marine sediment core repositories, located at Oregon State.

Koppers will retain a partial appointment in CEOAS, where he will oversee marine operations,  large building projects and the transition to the new research vessel Taani. Koppers will also continue to be part of the $350 million Ocean Observatories Initiative project for which he is one of five principal investigators.

November 15, 2021