Applied Research Center Executive Director Appointment

Inés Triay, Ph.D. has accepted the appointment as Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) effective October 15, 2012.

ARC’s current Executive Director, Dr. John Proni, will assist Dr. Triay during a transition period through December 30, 2012. Beginning in January, Dr. Proni will focus on expanding the current collaboration of ARC with the School of Environment, Arts and Society (SEAS) and the Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC) in areas pertaining to marine environmental research. Since joining FIU in 2008, he effectively addressed and solved numerous, complex operational issues, and successfully repositioned ARC’s research enterprise. Please join me in thanking Dr. Proni for his service to ARC and FIU.

Dr. Inés Triay

Dr. Triay comes to FIU from her current position as Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management in the Department of Energy (DOE). Dr. Triay has a distinguished history as scientist and administrator at DOE, which includes positions as Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Chief Operating Officer for the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. In these positions, Dr. Triay was in charge of all science pertaining to environmental nuclear clean up throughout the U.S. For a period of five years, Dr. Triay was the Manager of the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) in New Mexico. Dr. Triay was also a scientist and leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratories for fourteen years, with roles that included Deputy Division Director of the Chemical Science and Technology Division. In her distinguished career at DOE, Dr. Triay received numerous honors, including the Presidential Rank Award, the DOE Secretary Exceptional Service Award, the National Award for Nuclear Science, and the Dixie Lee Ray Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, among others.

Dr. Triay is committed to continuing the upward trajectory ARC established under Dr. John Proni. This includes expanding research funding connected to nuclear research, establishing new research partnerships with the U.S. Department of Defense, expanding applied research partnerships with industry, and building bridges of collaborative research opportunities across departments at FIU. The latter is already exemplified by her leading role in the creation of FIU’s Nuclear Research Network, which in a short period of three months received its first grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Triay as Executive Director of ARC.