SAN ANTONIO, July 21, 2014 – Robert W. Gracy, Ph.D., has been named Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Biomedical Research Institute, according to Board Chairman Richard Schlosberg.
Kenneth P. Trevett, who announced his resignation as President and CEO in May, is leaving in order to concentrate his time on developing new personal opportunities and options, as he noted in May.
He is a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and for six years served as UTSA’s Vice President for Research, growing annual research expenditures from $23 million to $57 million. Previously, he had served as Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, Dean and Vice President of Research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.
“We are fortunate that Bob Gracy could step into this additional leadership role for Texas Biomed,” Schlosberg said. “He is an accomplished academic leader and respected scientist who is a natural fit in this situation as we begin the search for a new President and CEO. We have tasked Dr. Gracy with being an active leader for Texas Biomed, since it likely will be next year before a new CEO can come on board.”
“Ken Trevett has made major contributions to Texas Biomed in his nearly six years as President and CEO,” Schlosberg said, “and we respect his desire to focus on the interesting opportunities that are coming his way. Dr. Gracy’s willingness to assume this additional responsibility is a solution that works well for all of us.”
Gracy said, “I’m very pleased to step into this position so that Ken Trevett can move forward with his own plans. It was Ken who asked me to serve as Interim Chief Scientific Officer earlier this year and it is an honor to follow in his footsteps here at Texas Biomed. I am not a candidate in the CEO search, but am committed to working in all aspects of this job until a successor can be identified and arrive on campus.”
Trevett noted, “I have had time for a good bit of personal reflection since announcing my resignation in May and concluded it was best for both Texas Biomed and me to complete my exit so that we can all move ahead. As I said in May, I have spent more than 35 years working in this arena and I now want to look to other opportunities in management and business operations where I can apply that experience.”
Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world’s leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Located on a 200-acre campus on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, the Institute partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world to develop vaccines and therapeutics against viral pathogens causing AIDS, hepatitis, herpes, hemorrhagic fevers, and parasitic diseases responsible for malaria, schistosomiasis and Chagas disease. The Institute also has programs in the genetics of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, psychiatric disorders and other diseases. For more information on Texas Biomed, go towww.TxBiomed.org.