UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Troy Ott, professor of reproductive physiology and associate director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has been selected to serve as acting director of the Huck Institutes during the appointment of Andrew Read as interim senior vice president of research at Penn State. Ott’s position will be effective July 1.
As acting Huck director, Ott will head up one of Penn State’s largest and most interdisciplinary research units, comprising 11 core facilities, more than 30 research centers and institutes, and the administration of six Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs (IGDPs). More than 600 faculty researchers participate in Huck programs, representing more than 50 departments across nine colleges at Penn State.
“I am extremely pleased Troy agreed to step up and lead Huck in my absence,” said Read, who will serve as interim senior vice president for research during the two-year appointment of Lora Weiss as director of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office. “Having worked closely with him since I became director, I’ve learned that he truly embodies Huck’s core values: excellence, integrity, respect, curiosity, and a ‘We, not me’ attitude. Troy knows how powerful Huck can be as a force multiplier to generate more impactful research in the life sciences at Penn State, and I know Huck will be in great hands while I am away.”
Ott, a faculty member in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, is immediate past president of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. Since 2015, he has overseen graduate education at Huck, which enrolls 250 doctoral students advised by 330 faculty members from across the University. Ott helped found Huck’s Center for Reproductive Biology and Health and advises students in two of Huck’s IGDP programs: Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Biosciences and Integrative and Biomedical Physiology.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Huck Institutes while Andrew steps into the important role of interim senior vice president for research,” said Ott, who holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. “The mission of the Huck to catalyze interdisciplinary excellence, enhance research impact, and evolve student-centered graduate training in the life sciences is what initially drew me to the Huck. Andrew has asked me to keep my foot on the accelerator and, with the outstanding leadership team, faculty and support professionals across the organization, we will be poised to continue to deliver on that Huck mission.”
Ott’s research focuses on issues of animal food production, fertility regulation, immunology, and the physiology of early pregnancy, with a primary focus on the signaling between the embryo, uterus and circulating immune cells. He is inventor or co-inventor on seven awarded patents related to his research, and he is actively engaged in efforts to commercialize novel diagnostic technologies to aid in managing reproduction and animal health.
Ott has published more than 100 scientific papers and review articles, 10 book chapters, and is co-editor of the textbook “Reproductive Genomics in Domestic Animals.” In addition, he developed and mentored the “Let’s Eat!” Distinguished Honors Faculty program designed to engage Penn State Schreyer Honors Scholars in issues related to food production and feeding the growing world population sustainably. He gives numerous public seminars each year on the role of biotechnologies in sustainable food and fiber production. For these activities he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the PennAg Industries Association in 2020.
Ott received his bachelor of science degree in animal production from Penn State in 1984. He completed his master of science degree in reproductive physiology at Auburn University in 1988, and he received his doctorate in reproductive physiology from University of Florida in 1992. Following graduation, he spent six years as a research scientist in the Center for Animal Biotechnology at Texas A&M University before joining the faculty at the University of Idaho's Department of Animal and Veterinary Science in 1998. Ott returned to Penn State to join the Department of Animal Science in 2006.