Dr. Thomas J. McCoy, vice president for research, creativity and technology transfer at Montana State University, has been named vice president for research and economic development at the University of North Texas. He will join UNT July 8.

As UNT's chief research officer, McCoy will set the university’s strategies for growing as a research university into a Tier One institution. UNT already is the most comprehensive research institution in the North Texas region and is committed to becoming a public research university on par with the best in the nation. 

“This appointment is exciting, and I look forward to working with everyone at UNT on building a great university,” McCoy said. “It’s obvious that UNT’s administrators and faculty are committed to offering a first-rate educational experience for our students while facilitating the move to a first-rate top tier research university.”

Montana State is among the nation's top tier of research universities, as recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The Foundation recently ranked MSU as one of 108 research universities with “very high research activity.”

“Dr. McCoy’s experience as a scientist and as the vice president for research at Montana State will be critical in ensuring the research success of our students and faculty,” said V. Lane Rawlins, UNT president. “As the preeminent public research university in the North Texas region, we have a bold vision for our research agenda and Dr. McCoy’s success in increasing research funding and his commitment to attracting outstanding students make him an excellent fit for UNT.”

Since his appointment in 1998, McCoy has overseen the growth of research funding at MSU to approximately $112 million annually.

At UNT, McCoy will work to promote UNT's mission in research, original scholarship and artistic creativity as well as provide executive leadership for all components of the Office of Research and Economic Development, including proposal development services, sponsored programs, research integrity/compliance, technology transfer, and economic development.

“I will do everything I can to enhance the research enterprise at UNT and I look forward to working with the president, provost, vice presidents, deans, department heads, faculty, staff and students in pursuit of our goal,” McCoy said.

McCoy previously served as dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Agriculture Experiment Station at Montana State, department head and professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences, associate professor in plant sciences at the University of Arizona and research geneticist at the United States Department of Agriculture alfalfa production research unit in Reno, Nevada.

McCoy earned his bachelors of science degree in zoology and his master’s in plant breeding and genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his doctoral degree in plant breeding and genetics from the University of Minnesota.