The Oakland University Board of Trustees unanimously approved a recommendation by President Gary Russi that Virinder Moudgil, Ph.D., interim vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, be appointed to that position on a permanent basis. The appointment occurred at the May 7 board meeting.

Last March, Russi enlisted the Senate Steering Committee to seek faculty reaction to Moudgil’s performance since he assumed the position on an interim basis in July 2001. Faculty and academic leaders created and circulated a survey, the results of which overwhelmingly supported Moudgil.

“Throughout Dr. Moudgil’s tenure to date, I have consistently received comments and messages from colleagues across the university, and from friends and partners off campus, about the kind of job he is doing and about the kind of leader he is,” Russi said.

Russi then went on to describe Moudgil’s considerable accomplishments and qualifications for the job. He credited Moudgil’s contributions to stability on campus, the support he has from all quarters on campus, his crisis leadership abilities, his job performance, his dedication to being a team player, and his leadership style as among the attributes that made Moudgil the best person for the job.

“For all these reasons, and the fact that I personally hold Dr. Moudgil in the highest regard as a professional and as a person of great integrity, I would like to offer the board his name as my appointment to the position of vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, effective this date,” Russi said. The board approved Russi’s recommendation, and the audience in the auditorium gave Moudgil a lengthy ovation.

Board Chair Henry Baskin called Moudgil “the finest person I have ever known.”

Moudgil joined Oakland in 1976 as an assistant professor of biological sciences after conducting research and teaching at Banaras University in India. He served his postdoctoral fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He also has served as a visiting scientist at institutions in Paris and Belgrade.

During the course of his career, Moudgil has received several million dollars in external grant awards and nearly $3 million in grants at Oakland. His work has been published hundreds of times in scientific journals, and his research on the regulation of the tumor suppressor protein, p53, in cancer cells was considered a groundbreaking discovery in the field of cancer research. On March 13, 2002, Moudgil presented his research on “Hormones and Health and Disease” as part of Oakland University’s ongoing President’s Colloquium series.

During his tenure at Oakland, he has received many awards, including the Oakland University Research Excellence Award and the Marian P. Wilson Award.