Clemson seeks more lottery funds for research posts
University asks state for $9 million for four professorships in high-tech fields

Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:00 am

By Rudolph Bell
BUSINESS WRITER
dmbell@greenvillenews.com

Clemson University has applied for $9 million in state lottery money to endow four research professorships it hopes to leverage into high-tech, high-paying jobs.

The proposed endowed chairs -- one each in cyberinfrastructure and optoelectronics and two in health-care facilities design -- would be funded through the state Centers of Economic Excellence program, which provides $30 million a year to endow professorships at the state's three research universities.

The idea is to use university research to attract corporate investment and create spin-off companies. To be eligible for the lottery money, the universities must find matching amounts of non-state funds.

Chris Przirembel, Clemson's vice president of research and economic development, said Monday that one company has already pledged to help fund the proposed chair in optoelectronics and there's a "high probability" a second company will chip in, too. He declined to identify the companies.

The new chair would build on Clemson's existing research strengths in optical fibers and wireless communication, he said.

Przirembel said he has talked to other companies about funding the planned chair in cyberinfrastructure, a term that refers to the "technology platform" used in computer modeling, simulation and visualization.

Clemson is competing for this year's allocation of $30 million with the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.

Together, all three universities asked for $57 million worth of new professorships in applications that were due Friday, said Gail Morrison, deputy director of the state Commission on Higher Education.

Which professorships get funded will likely be decided in June, she said.

The four Clemson professorships, if approved, would come on top of 14 at the university that have already been approved for lottery money.

Clemson has received enough in pledges of non-state money to fund eight of the professorships, Przirembel said. Four of the professorships are based at the International Center for Automotive Research, Clemson's research campus in Greenville.

Statewide, the Centers of Economic Excellence program has allocated $149 million in state lottery money for professorships over the past five years, Morrison said. The program has logged about $91 million in pledges of non-state matching funds, she said.

Clemson this year did not re-apply for a proposed chair in human genetics that was rejected for funding two years in a row.

Clemson had wanted to base the professorship in Greenwood as part of a research collaboration with the Greenwood Genetic Center. But a panel of experts recommended against funding in a May report, noting that strong schools near major cities are already focused on the field.