SUNY BOT Approves Appointment of Dr. Michael I. Kotlikoff, Dean of NYS College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University

Albany -- The SUNY Board of Trustees today approved the appointment of Dr. Michael I. Kotlikoff as Dean of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, effective July 1, 2007. The Cornell University Board of Trustees had previously approved the appointment. Dr. Kotlikoff receives a salary $200,000. 

“I am happy to recommend the approval of Dr. Kotalikoff’s appointment as Dean at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine,” said Interim SUNY Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark. “Dean Kotlikoff has made very impressive advances in veterinary medicine and research throughout his career. I commend the Board for recognizing the expertise that Dean Kotlikoff brings to the SUNY System by confirming this appointment.”

“Dr. Kotlikoff’s work as a researcher, author and instructor at Cornell University, as well as his service as a department chair and his roles on various advisory boards and executive committees, is of great value to the students and faculty of the College of Veterinary Medicine and the SUNY System,” said SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Carl T. Hayden.  “I congratulate Dr. Kotlikoff on becoming dean of the college.”

Dr. Kotlikoff was elected to the post for a five-year term at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees on April 26, 2007. He was recruited in 2000 to chair the interdisciplinary Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. 

Dr. Kotlikoff joined the faculty from the University of Pennsylvania, where he had served as professor and chair of their Department of Animal Biology. During his time there (1985-2000), Dr. Kotlikoff was instrumental in establishing and became director of the University of Pennsylvania Center for Animal Transgenesis and Germ Cell research, a role reflected since 2000 at the new Cornell Core Transgenic Mouse Facility, which he directs.  While chairing Cornell’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, Professor Kotlikoff has continued his cell physiology research.  His NIH-funded group’s research was in the news in 2006 for developing “mice with glowing hearts.”

Professor Kotlikoff has authored or co-authored over one hundred articles in a range of journals, and he is on the editorial board of The Journal of Physiology, for which he recently edited a special issue. He presents his research by invitation at international venues and has co-filed for several patents. Professor Kotlikoff is a member of six graduate fields, and hosts many undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees and visiting scholars.  He sponsors undergraduate honors research and Hughes Scholars.  In addition to teaching in the veterinary and graduate programs, Professor Kotlikoff has been responsible for curriculum design and chaired the Departmental Curriculum Review Committee. He has chaired or been a member of a variety of Cornell and external advisory boards and review, steering and executive committees.

Dr. Kotlikoff earned his B.A. in literature and V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.  He received a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of California at Davis.  He succeeds Dr. Donald F. Smith, who is pursuing research interests.  

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 417,500 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. 

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