Drs. Lee, Lauver and Tykocki Earn Promotions to Associate Professor

Drs. Nathan Tykocki, Kin Sing Lee, and Adam Lauver will have new titles added to their names after the Michigan State University Board of Trustees on June 28 approved their promotions to Associate Professor.

“The university is making a significant commitment to supporting me throughout my career, and that’s substantial,” said Dr. Lauver. “At the associate professor phase, you’ve demonstrated your ability to function as an independent scientist and contribute scholarly and creative outputs. It feels good to know that the university is supporting you and to know they value you and what you bring to the university.” It has been a long process for all three as Dr. Lee and Lauver held their assistant professor title for seven years (extended a year due to COVID-19) while Dr. Tykocki’s promotion was four years in the making since he had also served as an assistant professor at the University of Vermont.

But through their scholarship, grant writing and work with students, each has earned the promotion in which the major draw is tenure.

“It’s a commitment from the university to me and the science I do,” Dr. Tykocki said. “It’s really nice to know they believe in me as a scientist, as a scholar, and as an educator.”

Dr. Lee agreed with his colleagues.

“The university appreciates that the science we are doing is critical and that we could potentially make contributions to society,” he said.

“I can’t think of three people more deserving of promotion and tenure, and it was an honor to support their applications,” said Dr. Anne Dorrance, Chairperson of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “All three are excellent researchers and educators. But, more importantly, they are exceptional department and university citizens. I am delighted for them all.”

Both Dr. Lee and Dr. Lauver came to Michigan State as part of the Drug Discovery initiative created by Dr. Richard Neubig in 2013. “It felt like a really good fit, and that turned out to be the case,” said Dr. Lauver, who came to MSU for a position in cardiovascular pharmacology after a stint at the University of Michigan as a non-tenured faculty member. “It’s one of the best professional decisions I’ve made.”

Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from MSU and did postdoctoral work at the University of California-Davis and jumped at the opportunity to return to East Lansing.

His research is focused on studying how dietary fatty acids work in the human body as well as researching neurodegenerative diseases.

“It was a great fit because they were looking for people to do chemical biology and drug discovery at that time,” he said. “The position description matched my expertise and the things that I want to do in the future.”

Dr. Tykocki, who has been researching the lower urinary tract, said receiving tenure from this promotion offers him and the others more security when it comes to writing grants and doing research.

“I have the intellectual security to be able to ask questions that are, scientifically, extremely interesting,” he said. “I like science for the sake of asking questions. It’s the idea there’s something we don’t know.”

All three admit the process of gaining their promotion has been long, a little tedious, and more than a little stressful. And none deny there’s a relief now that the lengthy process is over.

“It’s great,” Dr. Lee said. “I don’t need to worry about it and that’s good. I can focus on doing the science.”

“It doesn’t really change what we do,” Dr. Lauver said. “But tenure provides a level of freedom to pursue scientific questions that we find most intriguing, even if they carry greater funding risks. If some grants don’t get funded, the university is saying, ‘We’ll still support you.’ They’re committing to backing us regardless.”