Jonathan W. Lowery, PhD

I am a passionate educator-scholar and academic officer with a talent for leading teams to collaborative success. After completing PhD studies in cell biology at Vanderbilt University and fellowship training in developmental biology at Harvard University, I joined the founding faculty of the Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2014.

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Here, I serve as a primary content expert for teaching skeletal physiology, hypothalamic-pituitary physiology, and reproductive physiology to medical and graduate students. My research program in musculoskeletal physiology is funded both internally and externally and has served as the research training home for more than fifty student research assistants. My intentional focus on effective mentorship has proven successful, as evidenced by numerous peer-reviewed publications involving student collaborators; an average >95% agreement on student post-course satisfaction surveys; selection as a finalist for Indy’s Best & Brightest Under 40 in the Health & Life Sciences Category; and selection as the national Northup Educator of the Year in 2018, having been nominated by MU-COM students twice in three years.

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I feel called to higher education leadership in order to better influence and execute a vision of student-focused, career-minded, transformational education that changes lives and betters society. My leadership style is soaked in the mindset that we are all learners at various points in our journey. I am goal-driven, team-oriented, and person-first with the belief that creativity is at its best when diversity of experience, background, and thought is valued.

Indeed, my current position as inaugural Assistant Provost for Research & Scholarship represents a continual, decade-long pursuit of integrating the teaching, research, and service mission of the institution into a cohesive vision of student success through faculty mentorship. In this role, I lead the university's research enterprise and manage a portfolio of approximately $5.75 million in institutional and external funds. My administrative work blends teaching and research across the institution’s academic units and has been instrumental in growth from regional to national ranking and an expected first-ever designation as a “Research University” by Carnegie in the coming years. I am charged with connecting ideas to opportunities for success and - while my daily tasks vary greatly - my role centers on ensuring that the Marian University research ecosystem is ethical, safe, compliant, productive, and efficient. This is accomplished through focus upon "The Five F's of MU Research:" 1) Faculty Development, 2) Facilities, 3) Funding, 4) Federal Compliance, and 5) Future Growth. Growing from zero staffing, I founded the Research & Scholarship Administration and oversee 3 FT and 6 PT staff across the Office of Sponsored Programs & Research, the Office of Undergraduate Research, and the Office of Research Operations, Integrity, and Compliance -- the latter of which includes the IRB, IACUC, and IBC with an additional approx. thirty-five partial reports in various leadership and regulatory compliance roles.

Moreover, I hold myself to a high standard of exemplifying this model of educator-scientist and remain a fully-active teacher and researcher in addition to serving the Division of Academic Affairs by leading the university’s research enterprise across five campuses in three states.