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About the Vice President

Vice President for Research Stacey Patterson oversees the university’s $488.2 million research enterprise. Her leadership includes driving a major overhaul of the university’s commercialization efforts and securing a $6 million National Science Foundation grant, IGNITE-FSU, designed to accelerate translational research with strong market potential.

She also led the development of FSU’s first-ever research strategic plan, ASPIRE, and played a key role in advancing FSU Health and InSPIRE, a major manufacturing and aerospace initiative in Northwest Florida funded by a $98.4 million Triumph Gulf Coast award.

Before joining FSU, Patterson spent over 16 years in a variety of roles within the University of Tennessee system. She began in a joint position as a research scientist and a licensing associate and steadily advanced through the organization, ultimately being named vice president for research, outreach, and economic development in 2017. She was the first woman to serve in this position in the history of the UT system.

Patterson earned her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from UT Knoxville, followed by a master’s degree in environmental health science from East Tennessee State University and a doctorate in microbiology from UT Knoxville.

Patterson completed a three- year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of South Florida. As a principal investigator, she has secured funding from NOAA, the U.S. Army, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and multiple private-sector partners. She holds several U.S. patents focused on novel detection platforms and engineered cell lines designed to accelerate drug discovery and toxicity testing. Her research also led to the creation of 490 BioTech, a Knoxville-based startup she co-founded with three colleagues. The Scientist Magazine recognized 490 BioTech as one of the top ten innovations in 2013. In recognition of her contributions to her discipline, Patterson was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Throughout her career, Patterson has played a pivotal role in securing extramural funding and building partnerships and broad coalitions to advance innovation. She led a $62.5 million solar initiative - a joint research effort among UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, industry partners, and the West Tennessee Solar Farm, one of the largest solar-generating facilities in the Southeast. She also contributed to several major center-scale initiatives, including the creation of the Composites Institute, a $259 million public-private partnership involving more than 130 member institutions from industry, academia, and government working together to strengthen the nation’s advanced composites ecosystem. In addition, she spearheaded the establishment of the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute and helped to secure over $100 million in public and private support for its launch, including a $36.4 million grant from the Department of Energy.

At FSU, Patterson oversees the Office for the Vice President for Research, which employs 125 full-time staff and houses to multiple administrative units, including federal relations, commercialization, and the Council of Research and Creativity, among others. The office also has direct oversight for five major research centers: the Center for Advanced Power Systems, the Coastal and Marine Laboratory, the Florida Center for Reading Research, the High-Performance Materials Institute, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.