EPSCoR Leadership

Our dedicated team works closely with researchers, professionals, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the fields of science and technology.

Executive Director
Dr. Christopher Lawson

Program Coordinator II
Tiffany Vickers Davis

Executive Director

Dr. Christopher Lawson

Dr. Christopher Lawson has served as ALEPSCoR Executive Director since 2010. He previously served as ALEPSCoR Associate Executive Director from 2007- 2010 and ALEPSCoR Co- Director from 1999-2005. Dr. Lawson is a Professor of Physics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, with a research specialty of optical sensing and nonlinear optics, and has published over 70 journal articles and 10 books or book chapters in these areas.

The Executive Director is the chief administrative officer of ALEPSCoR, and is appointed by the ALEPSCoR AESC. The ALEPSCoR Executive Director has overall responsibility and authority for the day-to-day operation, management and coordination of the ALEPSCoR program. The Executive Director is responsible for constructing and administering a budget that best serves the needs of all federally funded EPSCoR programs and providing reports to the Alabama Commission for Higher Education (ACHE), fiscal agent for state funds in support of EPSCoR, on the expenditure of state funds. He also supervises and administers the state funded Graduate Research Scholars Program (GRSP). The ALEPSCoR State Agency Directors and GRSP Campus Coordinators report to the Executive Director

Dr. Lawson also serves on the Board of Directors of the EPSCoR/IDEA Foundation/Coalition, which assumes a leadership role in coordinating national EPSCoR activities. In addition, in 2013 Dr. Lawson was elected by the EPSCoR Coalition Board of Directors to serve as Vice Chair of the Coalition. As part of those duties, in March of 2013 (as well as previously in March of 2012) at the request of the EPSCoR/IDeA Foundation, Dr. Lawson testified in front of Congress in support of the NSF EPSCoR and NASA EPSCoR budgets requests.

School:The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Phone:205-975-5059

Email:lawson@uab.edu

Program Administrator

Charlotte Nix

School:University of Alabama at Birmingham

Email:chnix@uab.edu

Program Coordinator II

Tiffany Vickers Davis

School:University of Alabama at Birmingham

Email:tvdavis@uab.edu

Agency Directors

ALEPSCoR agency directors are administrative officers for federal EPSCoR research programs operating in Alabama. Appointed by the ALEPSCoR Steering Committee, and accountable to the Executive Director and the steering committee, agency directors provide guidance for the programs; oversee program operations, including coordination, notification, and supervision of all EPSCoR announcements and awards; and perform other duties at the behest of the Executive Director and steering committee.

NASA EPSCoR

Dale Thomas, PhD

School:The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Position:Professor/Eminent Scholar
Industrial and Systems Engineering and Engineering Management

Email:dale.thomas@uah.edu

DOD ESPCOR

Clive Woods, PhD

NSF EPSCoR

Gary Zank, PhD

School:The University of Alabama in Huntsville

Postion:University of Alabama Trustee Professor
Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Professor
Director and Chair, Department of Space Science

Email:gary.zank@uah.edu

DOE EPSCOR

Mebougna Drabo, PhD

Institution:AAMU

Position:Professor and Chairperson of Mechanical & Civil Engineering and Construction Management Department

Email:mebougna.drabo@aamu.edu

Phone:(256) 372-4136

Steering Committee

The Alabama EPSCoR Steering Committee (AESC) is responsible for the fiscal and programmatic operations of ALEPSCoR. Members include representatives from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and participating ALEPSCoR research institutions.