ITHACA, N.Y. -- Joseph A. Burns, the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and professor of astronomy at Cornell University, has been named as the university's vice provost for physical sciences and engineering. Burns' role is to facilitate Cornell's research in the areas of physical science and engineering, especially at federally funded centers, and to advise on the university's research policies and priorities in those areas.

In the appointment, which became effective July 1, Burns replaces John Silcox, who retains his post as the David E. Burr Professor of Engineering, Applied and Engineering Physics.

Commenting on the appointment, Vice Provost for Research Robert C. Richardson said: "I am delighted that Joe has agreed to join us. He is a very distinguished scientist -- a faculty member in the College of Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Astronomy -- and a nationally recognized scientist. Joe has a long record of distinguished leadership in his department, college and the university, and his work on the physics of the solar system has long been admired."

Burns joined the faculty of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 1966 after earning a B.S. in naval architecture at the Webb Institute and a Cornell Ph.D. in space mechanics in 1966. After serving a year as a postdoctoral research associate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, he returned to the faculty two years later. His current research concerns planetary rings and the small bodies of the solar system, from dust and satellites to comets and asteroids.