For University of Utah Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Daniel A. Reed, a recent trip to Antarctica was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see and understand the vast scientific opportunities the southernmost tip of the globe offers. Reed and two other National Science Foundation board members—University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella and University of Utah Ombudsman and Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy Maureen Condic—spent just over a week in Antarctica. They met with researchers, reviewed the station’s aging infrastructure, and traversed some of the same terrain that Shackleton and his team first crossed more than a century ago.

“This is why we do what we do. Research is about exploring the great unknown, and the hope and the success of adding a small piece to the great mosaic of human knowledge.”

– Daniel A. Reed, Sr. V.P. for Academic Affairs

Daniel A. Reed is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Utah. Previously, he was Vice President for Research and Economic Development, University Chair in Computational Science and Bioinformatics, and Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iowa. He also served as Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Technology Policy and Extreme Computing. Among many other prestigious appointments, Dr. Reed is currently a member of the National Science Board (NSB), which provides oversight for the U.S. National Science Foundation. He received his B.S. from Missouri University of Science and Technology and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University, all in computer science.