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EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Dec. 1, 2025) – An
accomplished leader at the National Science Foundation with
a deep background in ocean and environmental science and
biology has been tapped to lead the burgeoning research
enterprise at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical
State University.
 Lisa
M. Clough, Ph.D., acting director of NSF’s Ocean Sciences
Division, will join North Carolina A&T on Jan. 5 as vice
chancellor for the Division of Research, overseeing projects
that have attracted more than $350 million in external
funding over the past three years.
Clough has been with NSF as a federal
employee since 2013 and has served in senior roles in two
directorates: Geological and Biological Sciences. She
advanced U.S. ocean science nationally and internationally,
chairing multiple interagency working groups and serving on
several international groups, including the U.S. Delegation
to the United Nations Treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National
Jurisdiction.
While NSF is an independent federal agency,
Clough has served under five NSF directors and four
presidential administrations.
At A&T, which now exceeds the criteria for
the Carnegie Classifications’ leading Research 1
designation, Clough will play a critical role in the
university’s ongoing evolution as an exponential research
institution, said Chancellor James R. Martin II.
“Dr. Clough joins us as we have just
completed our second consecutive year of performance at the
R1 level,” said Martin. “Getting to this stage represents a
major milestone. Dr. Clough will lead important work to
ensure we not only sustain those metrics, but relentlessly
build upon them. Her background at NSF, as well as her
previous work in the University of North Carolina System,
made her the ideal candidate for this mission-critical
role.”
At NSF, Clough has served in the Senior
Executive Service, the executive corps of the U.S. federal
civil service, for the past decade. She has impacted all
areas of NSF’s mission, including securing the national
defense through work in classified areas and as exemplified
by her receipt of several medals, including Arctic and
Antarctic Service Medals and the Public Service Medal from
the Coast Guard.
Prior to her work at NSF headquarters in
Alexandria, Virginia, Clough served in an interim role for
two years as associate vice chancellor for Research at East
Carolina University. She also served on the ECU faculty in
numerous roles over 20 years, culminating in the rank of
full professor of biology.
An accomplished research scientist in her own
right, Clough has published more than 30 peer-reviewed
studies and technical reports, while also teaching at the
graduate and undergraduate levels. Her ecological work
included foundational studies of interactions between
organisms and their environments, monitoring environments
around North Carolina phosphate mines and incorporating
indigenous knowledge into her study of ecosystems in Alaska.
A&T is home to 20 centers and institutes –
among them, seven centers of excellence – eight project
centers funded by sponsoring state and federal agencies and
six collaborative centers. A&T’s growing external awards
have been accompanied by significant growth in research
expenditures. Graduation of doctoral students – the
lifeblood of university research programs – has tripled over
the past 15 years.
“The data illustrate our exciting growth as a
research university, but they tell only part of the story,”
said Martin. “Our success and ambition as a hub of science
and innovation reflect the outstanding faculty researchers
and students who make up our university. I look forward to
what they will achieve under the knowledgeable, seasoned
leadership of Dr. Clough.” |
