Aaron Dotson, Ph.D., is the UAA vice chancellor for Research, having served in the role since July 2019. In this role, Dotson oversees research compliance, intellectual property protection, financial operations of externally sponsored activities, and sponsored partnerships for all UAA campuses. He collaborates closely with the provost in support of the university’s academic mission, and with the vice chancellor for Administrative Services in support of financial management for the university.

Recently, Dotson coordinated UAA’s pursuit of the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Arctic Homeland Security, which was awarded $46M over the next 10 years.

Prior to his appointment as vice chancellor for Research, Dotson served as the assistant dean of the UAA College of Engineering for one year. In that role, he also served as director of the Applied Environmental Research Center. In these roles, he led the College of Engineering, and the Center in successful sponsored awards from the National Science Foundation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In his faculty role, he and his students have published over 30 peer-reviewed publications and 100 conference presentations and attracted over $15M of funding. He has also previously worked as an engineering consultant for Malcolm Pirnie Inc. and maintains a professional engineering license.

Dotson holds a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the Arizona State University, and has previously served in a full-time faculty role at UAA, and a research associate at University of Colorado Boulder.