Thierry Boudet recently transitioned to a new role on the RIO leadership team, serving as RIO's executive director of strategic initiatives and reporting directly to Vice President for Research and Innovation, Shashank Priya. Boudet is responsible for high-impact assignments that advance the VPR's strategic priorities and grow the University’s research enterprise. Some of Boudet's current projects include: advancing a national security research initiative, supporting an animal research infrastructure improvements program, collaborating with CSE on microelectronics opportunities, leading the planning and space optimization necessary to create a new RIO operational headquarters in McNamara and provide space for growing RIO units, and serving as UMN facilities lead for RIO.
In addition to strategic projects, Boudet partners with faculty on both the Council for Research Associate Deans (CRAD), an advisory group providing guidance on research-related policies and initiatives, and the Faculty Burden Reduction Committee (FBRC), a RIO initiative to drive continuous improvements and reduce administrative burden for faculty researchers. Boudet also oversees RIO's Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS) and provides executive oversight of major technology implementations for the researcher-facing apps and systems. He is also now leading Research Advancement, RIO's internal funding and awards program that provides more than $5.5 million for UMN scholarly pursuits.
Boudet brings with him 20 years of experience at the University of Minnesota, predominantly in service of research and innovation. Thanks to his combined experiences in the central Information Technology team, University of Minnesota Extension, and the Research and Innovation Office, he has developed relationships with faculty and staff across the University and built a unique perspective of the network of research services in a comprehensive R1 institution.
With his background in services and technology, Boudet's skills are ideally suited to architect change efforts and execute on RIO’s most pressing strategic priorities.