Robert McMahan Jr., Gov. Mike Easley's senior adviser for science and technology, and executive director of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, is leaving those jobs and heading west to become dean of Western Carolina University's Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology.
McMahan will begin his duties at WCU by April 1, according to WCU Provost Kyle Carter.
McMahan has played a leading role in the growth of the bioscience sector statewide, advising the governor, the Economic Development Board, the state Department of Commerce and the General Assembly on science and technology issues, including technology-based economic development.
He has been credited with legislation related to defining statewide research capacity and structure, as well as creating a number of nationally recognized science- and technology-related economic development programs in North Carolina.
McMahan continues to hold the position of research professor of physics and astronomy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches and conducts research in cosmology, and he serves as an adjunct professor in the department of textile and apparel technology and management.