Page 39: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2023)

FAU Harbor Branch:

By the Numbers -

The second largest (144 acres) campus in the FAU system. 250 people on campus, including 70 gradu- - ate students.

- 40 research faculty members. We have both straight research professors who are not tenure track. We have joint appointments with colleges, so we have tenure track, um, professors as well as kind of a, a mix of what our faculty are like. Uh, we used to maintain about $9 million a year in an external research dollars coming in. Here we are now in 2021, we had almost $ 18-20 million in external research fund- - ing (1/3 of all the external research dollars that come into FAU run through Harbor Branch) “We have a very large appropriation with the O? ce of Naval Research.”

As our time with Sullivan wound down, we asked the ubiqui- tous question: What’s your biggest challenge? “Hmm ... I have more than one,” he said with a laugh. “The biggest one is budget, always trying to have enough budget to grow infrastructure, to keep maintenance going and to grow what you’re doing. In our case, Harbor Branch is 100% com- mitted, we’re at capacity. In other words, we don’t have a lot of extra lab space or of? ce space. The only way for us to grow is new buildings, and the request for putting up buildings in this state right now through universities is ‘get in line.’ It could take 10 to 20 years, but holding back our growth for decades is not something I want to do. So my challenge is how do I ? nd alternative ways to get investment in our institute that will help us grow?”

And growth is the mandate, as Sullivan and his team evolve the offer of FAU Harbor Branch so that it’s in the same con- versation with the Woods Hole’s and the Scripp’s of the world.

So much of Sullivan’s time is spent exploring – exploring differently from his research days, but exploring still – ? nd- ing a path of growth through corporate sponsorships, shared joint use facilities and philanthropy … exploring all channels outside of but including regular state funding. “To put up buildings, to build our infrastructure. That is my biggest challenge.” www.marinetechnologynews.com 39

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