The Innovators podcast, a product of Harris Search Associates, features interesting conversations with global thought leaders in the areas of higher education and research, engineering, technology, and the health sciences and provides our listeners an opportunity to benefit from lessons learned from the national leaders changing the landscape of innovation and discovery.
Bright Lights in Tennessee: UT Knoxville Recruits World-Class Researchers
Donde Plowman was appointed Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2019, having previously served on the faculty of business, and as Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
She earned her doctorate in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin, a master's in education from the University of North Texas, and a bachelor's degree in English from Southern Methodist University.
Chancellor Plowman discusses how Tennessee's flagship public university is pursuing an aggressive strategy in close alignment with the State's priorities, including efforts to recruit outstanding scholars and researchers to join UT Knoxville.
INNOVATORS is a podcast production of Harris Search Associates.
*The views and opinions shared by the guests on INNOVATORS do not necessarily reflect the views of the interviewee's institution or organization.*
30 Dec 2025
Independent Research Institutes, Science and Cuts to Federal Support of Research
Hermann Haller, MD, PhD
President, Professor, MDI Biological Laboratory; Professor, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Hannover Medical School
Haller received his medical degree from the Free University of Berlin and completed his postdoctoral work at Yale University. He has published more than 700 peer-reviewed articles, holds six world-wide patents and has founded four biotech companies. He has received many honors and awards and serves on numerous advisory boards, including those of Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genzyme and Novo Nordisk. In addition to his position at the MDI Biological Laboratory, he is also a full professor of medicine and former chairman of the Division of Nephrology at the Hannover Medical School in Germany.
INNOVATORS is a podcast production of Harris Search Associates.
*The views and opinions shared by the guests on INNOVATORS do not necessarily reflect the views of the interviewee's institution or organization.*
18 Nov 2025
Revisiting the Federal Government's Role in Research: A Brief Oral History (with Richard L. McCormick, PhD, President Emeritus, Board of Governors and Professor of History and Education at Rutgers University)
The history of the federal government's role in scientific research is both long enough to span more than three generations and yet recent enough that many people—ironically, those who rely on it most—are unaware of its origins. The federal government's recent decision to cut billions of dollars from previously approved research grants to universities, academic medical centers, and independent research institutes came as a shock to many, partly because they had assumed that federal support for research was firmly established in law and represented a stable, predictable funding pathway.
Richard McCormick—three-time president of major research universities and historian—offers a clear and compelling account of how the federal role in research began during World War II and evolved over the decades that followed. In today's INNOVATORS, he presents that historical portrait and, in doing so, suggests that recent shifts in federal policy may be less surprising than some have expressed, as they are, at least in part, in keeping with the public's broader understanding and appreciation of higher education.
This is the second in a year-long series of INNOVATORS podcasts that began with the commentary of Daniel Linzer on the more prominent features of support for scientific and biomedical research. In the next podcast, the federal role of support for research in independent research institutes is examined.
INNOVATORS Guest: Richard L. McCormick, PhD, President Emeritus, Board of Governors and Professor of History and Education at Rutgers University
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 14 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
15
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
Contact Innovators
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Innovators?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
