Dr. Gregory Warr

FAREWELL TO DR. GREGORY WARR

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MCB celebrating Dr. Warr’s Retirement
Upper photo: (Left to Right) Dr. Theresa Good, Dr. Casonya Johnson, Dr. Arcady Mushegian, Dr. Gregory Warr, Dr. Charlie Cunningham, Dr. Steven Clouse, Dr. Michael Weinreich, Dr. Devaki Bhaya
Lower Photo: (Left to Right) Ann Larrow, David Barley, Valerie Maizel, Kelly Ann Parshall, Dr. Gregory Warr, Philip Helig, Dr. Reyda Gonzalez-Nieves, Dr. Stacey Kelley, Lourdes Holloway

 

MCB recently gave a congratulatory sendoff to Dr. Gregory Warr, who has retired from NSF after 10 years of dedicated service. Dr. Warr started at NSF in 2007, serving for a short period as a Program Director in the division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) before transferring to MCB, where he served as a Program Director and cluster leader for Cellular Dynamics and Function (CDF). During his tenure in MCB, Dr. Warr also temporarily served as acting Division Director, bringing his dedication for quantitative methods into his work as an MCB leader.

Dr. Warr was a strong advocate of MCB’s emphasis on quantitative, predictive and theory-driven science and this was well reflected in the portfolio developed in the CDF cluster, where projects emphasized quantitative approaches and modeling. Dr. Warr’s advocacy has also had effects across MCB. According to Dr. Karen Cone, Acting Deputy Division Director, one of his most important contributions to MCB was “his recognition, early on, that the Division was supporting many projects using network analysis to understand regulatory processes, but these projects were dispersed across the existing three clusters.  His insights helped spur creation of a new cluster, Networks and Regulation, which eventually was re-named the Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster and supports a portfolio of vibrant projects well-grounded in quantitative and predictive science.”

Dr. Warr’s droll sense of humor will be sorely missed, but his influence on how the Division operates will continue. Dr. Theresa Good, Acting Division Director, says, “I appreciate both his ability to see strategically what was happening in the Directorate and Foundation and [to] act in ways that strengthened the Division, and his skill in enabling people who work with him to grow. Greg sought out the best people to have working with him, so that the Division could benefit from their expertise. He was a true intellectual and scholar with a wide range of interests far beyond just the science we fund.”

MCB thanks Dr. Warr for his hard work and dedication to the Division and MCB science. We will also miss his inspiring 6 AM gym schedule and ability to point out the silly absurdities in our everyday lives. Dr. Charles Cunningham, fellow Program Director and longtime friend, says that he will most miss two things: “Firstly, having been in MCB for 10 years or so, there was little he did not know when it came to process, so he was this great fund of information. Second, our chats about science, politics and home, especially over a curry and a glass of something refreshing at the Bombay Club in DC.”

 

 

A Word from Dr. Theresa Good, Acting Division Director

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As many of you may know, our Division Director, Dr. Linda Hyman, recently returned to her previous position as Associate Provost for the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences at Boston University. Linda led MCB through some difficult times: the death of a dear friend and colleague, Dr. Kamal Shukla; the retirement of a dedicated colleague and advocate for the synthetic biology community, Dr. Susanne Von Bodman; and the transition of a number of staff members into different roles within the Foundation and elsewhere in federal service. From all of us at MCB, thank you Linda, for the time you took away from your role at Boston University to lead us and for your year and a half of service to the Foundation. Good luck as you return back to Boston University.

As I now take on the role of Acting Division Director, I am thankful to have the support of talented program directors, staff, and colleagues, like Dr. Gregory Warr, who have previously served in this role.  All are dedicated to the NSF mission of transforming the frontiers of science and engineering, and stimulating innovation to address societal needs through research and education. While change is occasionally uncomfortable, it often brings about opportunities. We are excited to have a number of new program directors who you will meet over the coming months (Dr. E.J. Crane, Dr. Michael Weinreich, and Dr. Jarek Majewski), new staff members (Grace Malato), and the expert leadership of a new Operations Manager (Dr. Reyda Gonzalez-Nieves). Two of our dedicated program directors, first Dr. Michelle Elekonich, and then Dr. Karen Cone, will serve as the acting Deputy Division Director in two respective 120 day rotations. Michelle and Karen both have experience in division leadership and will work with me to ensure the efficient operations and attention to science vision for which MCB is known.

In addition, a new solicitation will be issued and some new workshops are being developed to catalyze conversations about the future directions of MCB science. Within MCB, we are poised to do our part to invest in science, engineering, and education for the nation’s future.

We look forward to engaging the scientific community during panels, meetings, and outreach visits about how to best serve science and the needs of the nation. We ask you to continue to work with us by: submitting your best ideas in proposals, continuing to participate in peer review, serving on panels, meeting with us at NSF workshops or at other scientific meetings, serving as rotating program directors, continuing to do outstanding research and broader impacts activities, and communicating the results of those efforts to the broader community.

As always, MCB welcomes your questions and input on how we can better serve the scientific community. You should always feel free to give us feedback or reach out to a program director with questions.

 

Best wishes,

 

Dr. Theresa Good

Acting Division Director

A Word from Dr. Gregory Warr, Acting Division Director

We all in MCB want to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Warr for his great service as Acting Division Director. During his time, Dr. Warr worked diligently in support of the Foundation’s mission. His excellent judgment, pragmatism, and collaborative approach led the division to new heights of excellence. Thank you, Dr. Warr, for your hard work and outstanding contributions to MCB.

It’s been an interesting, challenging and rewarding year that I’ve spent as the acting Division Director of MCB, and I’d like to take this opportunity to give you some idea of what the job has been like. Although the NSF is in many respects an academically-oriented agency whose mission is (in brief) to promote the progress of science, nothing in my near three-decade career as a professor in academia prepared me adequately for this position. While we work for the President of the United States, we are actively engaged with the broad academic community we support (who also serve, as sterling proposal reviewers), to whom we owe transparency and accountability. We are responsive to Congress in their oversight functions; and we bear in mind that we are investing the taxpayers’ money for the future benefit of society. It’s fair to say that a Division Director’s responsibility is to manage all of this in as seamless and efficient a manner as possible, which of course couldn’t happen without the strong professional skills of the Division staff, both administrative and scientific.

The Federal Government is a complex organization, but someone somewhere has seen every challenge that can crop up, and knows how to solve it. Knowing who that person might be is an essential aspect of the job! In addition to responsibilities as an administrator and manager, the Division Director is also involved in strategic planning, which involves not just the Biological Sciences Directorate and other units at the Foundation, but also other federal agencies and our international partners. Strategic initiatives may gestate slowly in the Federal Government, so it is important to take the long view. While I’ve enjoyed my year as acting Division Director, I’m very much looking forward to returning to my position as a Program Director, where I will be engaged very directly with evaluating and supporting the best and most exciting science that our community can propose to us.

I wish Linda Hyman, our incoming Division Director, the best of success in the position and hope that she will find it as enjoyable and rewarding as I have done.

Gregory Warr
Acting Division Director