Dean David Conover
Photo credit: SUNY Stony Brook
SoMAS Dean David Conover has been appointed Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Conover will step down as Dean and begin his new position effective July 2010 but will remain a faculty member with SoMAS during his service to the NSF.
The Division of Ocean Sciences is the largest division at NSF and Dr. Conover will be overseeing a budget in excess of $300 million, including several major international programs such as the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), the Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI), and the core programs in Ocean Sciences. He will also represent NSF on many of the inter-agency committees that involve ocean science and policy issues on a national and international scale in Washington D.C.
“We are sad to see David leave the position as Dean of SoMAS after serving with such distinction in this capacity for the past seven years,” said Stony Brook University Provost Eric Kaler. “This appointment is a great recognition of David’s work at Stony Brook and we congratulate him on this wonderful opportunity.”
Dr. Conover joined the faculty of Stony Brook University in 1981 and became Dean in 2003. Under his leadership, SoMAS has greatly expanded its faculty, added two undergraduate majors, increased its enrollment more than five-fold, acquired new waterfront research and education facilities, attracted state funding to build a new $7 million marine lab, and greatly amplified its endowments. Dr. Conover founded and serves as the Executive Director of the New York Marine Sciences Consortium, representing 27 academic institutions with marine science expertise in the state. He has served on boards of the New York Sea Grant Institute, the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, and the National Association of Marine Laboratories. Dr. Conover also serves as the SUNY Chancellor’s designee on the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council, which is charged with designing ecosystem-based approaches for managing New York’s aquatic resources.
As one of the world’s leading experts on the ecology of marine fishes and fisheries science, Dr. Conover has authored over 100 papers including many in leading journals such as Nature and Science. His most recent research, funded by the NSF and the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, involves determination of the long-term evolutionary (Darwinian) impacts of size-selective harvest regimes on the productivity of marine fish stocks. In 1997-98, Conover was named as the first recipient of the Mote Eminent Scholar Chair in fisheries ecology, a prestigious international award honoring those who have made major advances in the understanding of harvested marine resources. He also received the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship in 2005.
“It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as the Dean of SoMAS and my enthusiasm for SoMAS and SBU remains exceedingly high,” said Dr. Conover. “But the NSF position provides an opportunity to work on ocean science and policy issues in Washington on a national and international scale. This is a chance for me to give something back to a premier organization that has been instrumental to my career and the careers of so many other SoMAS students and faculty. I am looking forward to this new challenge.”
Upon Dr. Conover’s departure, Dr. Minghua Zhang will serve as Interim Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Dr. Zhang has served as Professor and the Director of the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres since 2001, and Associate Dean with SoMAS since 2003.
