Texas State names Jennifer Speed AVP for research development

Research & Innovation

Jayme Blaschke | April 28, 2023

Texas State University Vice President for Research Shreek Mandayam has named Jennifer Speed the new assistant vice president for research development.

Speed comes to Texas State from Princeton University, where she served as research development strategist. She will start at Texas State on July 1.

Between 2012-2020, she was director of extramural funding and strategic resource development at the University of Dayton, where she was also research professor of Religious Studies. Up until 2012, she was director of foundation relations at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. In these roles, she expanded research activity and funding; enhanced institutional capacity to support research; and developed and implemented strategic plans. She has a special interest in large-scale, collaborative research initiatives that have strong educational and outreach components.

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Speed to the senior leadership team in the Division of Research,” Mandayam said. “Her decades of research development experience will help accelerate Texas State’s Run to R1, as she works closely with our faculty and research center directors in expanding our portfolio of large multi-investigator grant proposals.”

In her new role, Speed will provide leadership and strategic direction on research development in order to support and grow research, scholarship, and creative activities across the university.

“I am thrilled to join Texas State on its Run to R1,” Speed said. “The university is in a really strong position. A growing research ecosystem will expand the university’s capacity to generate new knowledge, serve the common good and change lives—in the classroom, in the lab and far beyond the boundaries of campus. I look forward to cultivating relationships inside and outside of the university that can build on the great work already underway by Shreek Mandayam and his entire division.”

Speed, a native of San Antonio, has 25 years of experience as an educator, researcher, and administrator. She trained as a historian and holds a Ph.D. in history from Fordham University. She earned her master of arts degree Marquette University and her bachelor of arts degree at St. Mary’s University. Her research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the American Historical Association and the Fulbright Program. She is a proud graduate of Texas public schools.