Published December 13, 2016
MONROE, La. — Dr. John Sutherlin, Associate Professor of Political Science at the
University of Louisiana Monroe, has been appointed Executive Director of the Research
Corporation of Louisiana (RCL), an independent entity supporting ULM’s research.
Sutherlin will work with a team to increase the number of successfully funded grants
ULM receives. Further, he will serve as a liaison to take research from the university
to a commercial or industrial application. Sutherlin commented, "I want faculty to
consider my office as support staff for their grant-writing efforts.”
“The search to fill this position produced well-qualified candidates, but John’s experience
with sponsored programs, his extensive network within the research community, and
his familiarity with commercializing intellectual property tipped the scale in his
favor,” said Dr. Eric Pani, ULM’s Vice-President for Academic Affairs. “His entrepreneurial
attitude is especially important right now as we begin to grow the RCL and invigorate
sponsored programs at ULM.”
Sutherlin joined ULM in 2005 after working at the Urban Waste Management and Research
Center (UWMRC) at the University of New Orleans and teaching across town at Tulane
University. He co-founded the Social Science Research Lab (SSRL) at ULM and has conducted
extensive research and received numerous grants and contracts. Sutherlin received
his Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans and recently completed his Masters in
Environmental Law and Policy from the Vermont Environmental Law School. He is a patented
inventor and often publishes on intellectual property rights.
