Pamir Alpay

As Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Pamir Alpay serves as the University of Connecticut’s chief academic officer, with responsibility for all academic units and operations across UConn’s campuses in Storrs, Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury, Avery Point, and UConn Health in Farmington. He began his appointment on October 6, 2025.

As provost, Dr. Alpay oversees the university’s academic enterprise, including strategic planning, faculty development, academic budgeting, and curriculum innovation across UConn’s 14 schools and colleges. He leads initiatives that advance UConn’s mission of excellence in teaching, research, and service, with a focus on student success, faculty development and achievement, translational research, and the growth of interdisciplinary academic programs.

Prior to his appointment as interim provost, Dr. Alpay served as Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, overseeing UConn’s $375 million research enterprise and advancing the university’s national leadership in areas such as energy, genomics, health behavior, cybersecurity, manufacturing, materials science, and neuroscience. Under his leadership, UConn strengthened its position as a hub for discovery and innovation that contributes significantly to the economy, environmental sustainability, public health, and quality of life.

Before joining the president’s cabinet, Dr. Alpay served as executive director of the UConn Tech Park, where he was the University’s chief advocate for industry-informed research and its primary liaison between the research community and government collaborators. In that role, he established partnerships with industry, state government, and federal agencies resulting in more than $300 million in investments for applied research and outreach to small and medium-sized businesses supporting Connecticut’s economic growth.

Dr. Alpay is also a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of materials science & engineering and physics. His research lies at the intersection of materials science, condensed matter physics, and surface chemistry. As an investigator, he has raised more than $45 million for research and development from federal and state agencies and industry, including serving as PI and co-PI of a multi-year $28 million interdisciplinary Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) contract dedicated to optimizing advanced manufacturing technologies for aerospace applications.

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, ASM International, and the American Ceramic Society, and an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering (CASE). Dr. Alpay has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and conference proceedings, five invited book chapters, and a book on the physics of functionally graded smart materials.

Dr. Alpay earned his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Maryland and his B.S. and M.S. from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Türkiye.