Dr. Morris W. Foster has been Vice President for Research at Old Dominion University since 2014. During that time, he has established a number of research initiatives including the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, Virginia Institute for Spaceflight and Autonomy, Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium, Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience, Digital Shipbuilding Initiative, and the OpenSeas Maritime Innovation Hub. As a result of Dr. Foster’s tenure as VPR, ODU was classified as an “R1” or “Very High Research” institution by the Carnegie Foundation in 2021, the highest level of research designation for a doctoral university. Dr. Foster was trained as an anthropologist at the University of Oklahoma and Yale University and is the author of an award-winning social history of the Comanche community, served as the PI for four NIH R01 awards, and published extensively on the intersection of race and genetics.