DeKALB — A recipient of NIU’s highest honor for outstanding research has tentatively been named the vice president of the Division of Research and Innovation partnerships.

President Doug Baker announced Gerald Blazey’s appointment Tuesday. Blazey served as the division’s interim vice president over the past two years.

The appointment will be effective May 16, pending the approval of the Board of Trustees, according to an April 12 NIU Newsroom press release. Blazey was appointed after a national search for an individual to fill the position.

The division encourages research, scholarship, artistry and entrepreneurship across campus by working closely with community, government, business, industrial and scientific partners, according to the division’s website.

Blazey has a Ph.D. in experimental energy physics from the University of Minnesota and has worked at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He joined the NIU faculty in 1996.