I want to thank Vice President for Research Andrew Weyrich for his outstanding service to the University of Utah and congratulate him on his new position as president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

Weyrich has been a valued and significant member of the University of Utah’s research community for 28 years. He began at the U as a postdoctoral fellow in 1993, then as a member of the Department of Internal Medicine and the associate dean for research at the Health Sciences Center. Weyrich was the Interim director of the Molecular Medicine Program from 2017-2018 and the Health Sciences Center’s interim associate vice president for research in 2018.

Under Weyrich’s five years of leadership as the U’s fifth VPR, the university has been awarded over $2.1 billion toward research. In the fiscal year 2021 alone, the U reached a historic high of $641 million in research funding. Weyrich’s work was critical toward securing the U’s invitation to the Association of American Universities, which is composed of the top 66 North American research universities working toward transforming lives through education, research and innovation.

Weyrich has also worked tirelessly spearheading efforts to conduct COVID-19 asymptomatic testing for members of the campus community and their households.

I want to wish Weyrich the best in his future endeavors at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.

In the coming weeks, I will work with Weyrich and our leadership team to develop a transition plan to fill the role of an interim VPR prior to his departure.