CORVALLIS, Ore. – Philip Mote, an associate dean in Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and founding director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, has been named vice provost and dean of OSU’s Graduate School.
Mote will start as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School on Feb. 1.
“Phil is a nationally recognized scholar and has a long and strong record of leadership success,” said Edward Feser, OSU provost and executive vice president. “He comes to this important role with a great sense of strategy and enthusiasm for advancing excellence in graduate studies and research at OSU, as well as the overall mission of Oregon State University.”
Mote succeeds Stephanie Bernell, who has served as interim dean of the Graduate School since summer.
The Graduate School advances Oregon State’s teaching, research, and outreach goals by supporting graduate students in all aspects of their education. Together with graduate faculty, the Graduate School provides financial support for students to ensure Oregon State attracts the best students to advance its research agenda. As vice provost and dean of the graduate school, Mote will collaborate with internal and external partners to develop and refine a vision for graduate education at Oregon State.
“I will be a tireless advocate, within and beyond the university, for the importance of research as a societal investment,” Mote said. “I look forward to working closely with graduate students across campus so that they leave OSU with all the skills they will need to be successful in their future careers.”
In addition to leading the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Mote has led the Oregon Climate Service, the officially recognized state climate office in Oregon. Mote will relinquish those positions once he starts as vice provost and dean of the Graduate School. An interim director will be named and a national search for a permanent director will begin.
Mote arrived at Oregon State in 2009 as founding director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, a state-created institute based at Oregon State. Since his arrival, the institute has won numerous grants for applied climate research totaling more than $42 million and supported more than 100 researchers at 10 institutions.
In spring of 2017, Mote began serving half time in a new position, associate dean for strategic initiatives in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences.
His current research interests include regional climate modeling and the influence of climate change on western U.S. snowpack. He is the co-leader of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-funded Climate Impacts Research Consortium for the Northwest. Also, beginning Jan. 1 he will be president of the Global Environmental Change section of the American Geophysical Union.
He has served as a lead author for the fourth and fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. He is also co-author of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the fourth National Climate Assessment, which was released last week.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington.
General OSU
About Oregon State University: As one of only three land, sea, space and sun grant universities in the nation, Oregon State serves Oregon and the world by working on today’s most pressing issues. Our nearly 38,000 students come from across the globe, and our programs operate in every Oregon county. Oregon State receives more research funding than all of the state’s comprehensive public universities combined. At our campuses in Corvallis and Bend, marine research center in Newport, OSU Portland Center and award-winning Ecampus, we excel at shaping today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders.
Sean Nealon, 541-737-0787, [email protected]
Steve Clark, 541-737-3808, [email protected]
