ODU names exec director of research foundation

Old Dominion University has named Shannon Robinson as associate vice president of research and executive director of the ODU Research Foundation.

Robinson comes to ODU from Clarkson University, her alma mater, where she has worked since 2017. She was associate vice provost for research and technology transfer at the private research university in Potsdam, New York. She began at Clarkson as director of the office of project management, research and compliance, then became associate dean of the graduate school for operations and services. Before working at Clarkson, she worked in project management and infrastructure services at Rochester Institute of Technology following a career in the telecommunications technology industry.

“Shannon has a strong track record in sponsored programs administration and substantial expertise across multiple aspects of the research enterprise. She will be an outstanding asset to the ODU research community,” Morris Foster, ODU’s vice president for research, said in a statement.

Robinson has a bachelor’s degree in technical communications from Clarkson University, an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a doctorate in education from Northeastern University. She also holds judicial bench certification from the New York State Office of Court Administration, a LEED Accredited Professional Certification, a master’s certification in project management from George Washington University and a certification in American Sign Language from RIT.

“I am truly excited for this opportunity to work with the university’s senior leadership, the ODU Research Foundation Board of Trustees [and] the entire team within the ODU Research Foundation to serve research faculty and the many other stakeholders across campus to help propel the university forward in meeting its mission and expanding ODU’s research impact,” Robinson said in a statement.

The ODU Research Foundation was chartered in 1965 and serves as the university’s fiscal and administrative agent for sponsored program activities. It works closely with the university’s Office of Research: