10:19 a.m., Aug. 20, 2010----Charles G. Riordan, professor in the University of Delaware Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been named vice provost for graduate and professional education, it was announced Friday, Aug. 20, by Provost Tom Apple.

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Riordan will succeed Debra Hess Norris, the Henry Francis du Pont Chair of Fine Arts who will continue to serve as chair of the Department of Art Conservation and also will direct the internationally renowned Winterthur-University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.

“I am pleased to announce that Charlie Riordan has accepted the position of vice provost for graduate and professional education,” Apple said. “His distinguished research accomplishments, coupled with his longstanding interest in graduate and professional education, make him an ideal fit for this position. He combines the strategic vision that he displayed while serving on the Path to Prominence committee with his passion for doctoral education, exemplified by his receipt of the University's graduate advising and mentoring award.”

Apple thanked Norris for her work, saying, “Debbie Norris has provided the University outstanding service as vice provost, creating a foundation for the future of graduate and professional education as UD moves forward on the Path to Prominence.”

"I look forward to working with departments and programs across campus to strengthen all graduate and professional education programs,” Riordan said. “Building on the foundation set by Debbie Norris and the Office of Graduate and Professional Education staff, we will continue to develop best practices that will support the recruitment, retention and professional development of an excellent and an increasingly diverse graduate student body."

“It has been an enormous privilege to work across campus and beyond with the senior administration, deans, chairs, graduate directors, faculty, staff, and most of all our talented and inspiring graduate students -- all who care deeply about graduate and professional education,” Norris said. “Together, we have strengthened our visibility; instituted global research travel grants; developed new degree and certificate programs; launched dissertation boot camps and grant writing workshops; increased summer funding and internship opportunities; promoted public engagement training; strengthened diversity; and instituted a new prospect management and soon-to-be admissions system, among much more.

“Under Charlie's leadership, this work will accelerate in the months and years ahead. I look forward to focusing my time in art conservation at the University and in initiatives around the world while also supporting graduate education more broadly, especially in the arts and sciences.”

Riordan joined the UD faculty in 1997 and from 2002-07 served as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He served on the UD Path to Prominence strategic planning committee, received the University's outstanding doctoral graduate advising and mentoring award in 2008, and sits on the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry and Dalton Transactions. He also is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Riordan received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Texas A&M University.