Robert “Buddy” Moore, associate dean for research and graduate programs for the College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named executive director of the University of Tennessee Space Institute, UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek announced today.

Moore will begin serving on Jan. 1, 2010. Stephen Corda, who has been serving in the role as interim associate vice president and chief operating officer since July, will return to his faculty and research post at the institute.

“Moore is a very well respected and proven administrator who will lead the institute’s research and instructional mission with an eye for building new partnerships and graduate enrollment. He is a proven leader who can help implement strategies to enhance interdisciplinary projects and take advantage of opportunities,” said Cheek. “His experience with the university and several key research centers provides a broad framework for enhanced collaboration with UT, as well as other universities and public and private partners.”

Moore joined the UT Knoxville faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of microbiology. He later served as the head of the department of microbiology, helping to grow individual and collaborative research programs. In 2001, he was named associate dean for research and graduate studies for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Along with overseeing the college’s research and graduate programs, he directs the Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases & Human Health. He also directs the Comparative and Experimental Medicine (CEM) Graduate Program, a joint program of the college and the UT Health Science Center’s Graduate School of Medicine. The CEM program has seen a dramatic increase in faculty participation, student enrollment and assistantships as well as support for shared projects about human and animal health.

Moore has a bachelor’s and a master’s from Clemson University and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the UT faculty, he served as a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Throughout his career, he has published significant research and has been an associate editor of the Journal of Immunology and editor of Infection and Immunity.

The UT Space Institute, located in Middle Tennessee, is a graduate education and research institution that was established in 1964 to focus on research in engineering, physics, mathematics and aviation systems. Nearly 1,500 graduate degrees — including more than 180 doctorates — have been awarded through the institute in partnership with UT Knoxville’s College of Engineering.

At the recommendation of UT Interim President Jan Simek at its annual meeting last June, the UT Board of Trustees approved a new organizational structure that placed reporting responsibilities for the institute with the Knoxville chancellor.