Inside Iowa State

April 18, 2008

Brighton announces his retirement

by Diana Pounds

John Brighton, vice president for research and economic development, has announced that he will retire from the university at the end of spring semester.

Brighton came to Iowa State in September 2005 and holds a tenured position as professor of mechanical engineering.

"I am pleased to have had the opportunity to spend the last three years of my 47-year career of working in higher education at Iowa State University," Brighton said. "The work has been challenging and has provided a rich learning experience, especially in the added responsibility of economic development."

Brighton held a variety of academic and administrative positions -- professor, department chair, dean and executive vice president and provost -- in a career that took him to Purdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Penn State, Michigan State, Georgia Tech and the National Science Foundation. At Penn State, he and a cardiovascular surgeon led a team that developed an artificial heart that was approved and used clinically.

Brighton received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue.

"Looking back, the most satisfying times have been some of the successes I have had in teaching, impacting diversity, working with graduate students and faculty colleagues in interdisciplinary research, and seeing patients who have benefited from the medical equipment I helped design and develop," he said.

Ted Okiishi, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, will serve as interim vice president for research and economic development while a search is conducted for Brighton's successor. Okiishi, former associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Engineering, retired in August 2007. He currently serves part time as adviser to Brighton.

Executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman thanked Brighton "for his three outstanding years of service to ISU."

She said a national search for a vice president for research and economic development will begin soon, and she hopes the new vice president will be named by fall.

"I am pleased to have had the opportunity to spend the last three years of my 47-year career of working in higher education at Iowa State University."

John Brighton