Donald Luther Birx is an American physicist and academic administrator serving as the 15th president of

Plymouth State University Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...

. Prior to assuming office on July 31, 2015, Birx was an administrator at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

, the

University of Houston System The University of Houston System is a public university system in Texas, comprising four separate and distinct universities. It also owns and holds broadcasting licenses to a public television station (KUHT) and a public radio station (KUHF). Th ...

, and the

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Early life and education

Birx was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, the son of Donald Birx Sr., a mathematician and electrical engineer, and Adele Birx (née Sparks), a nursing instructor. His younger sister,

Deborah Birx Deborah Leah Birx (born April 4, 1956) is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine resea ...

, is a physician and diplomat. His brother, Daniel "Danny" Birx, died in a plane crash in 2000. Birx earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering physics from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, a Master of Science in physics and

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

, and a PhD in electrical engineering and artificial intelligence from the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

Career

Birx began his career at Systems Research Laboratories, Inc., where he was a senior research scientist, principal investigator, and general manager of the intelligent systems division. He then relocated to

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern New ...

, where he became a professor of physics and interim vice president for research at

. Birx later worked as the vice chancellor and vice president for research of

. Prior to his tenure at

, Birx was the chancellor of

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Penn State Behrend (PSB) is a satellite campus of Pennsylvania State University and it is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. PSB is a four-year campus with over 5,000 students and over 250 faculty, in five academic programs: the Schools of Business, En ...

. In May 2015 trustees of the

University System of New Hampshire The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) is a system of public colleges and universities in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. It was established in 1963 and is responsible for overseeing the University of New Hampshire - Durham, the Universit ...

announced that Birx had been selected to serve as the 15th president of

, succeeding Sara Jayne Steen. He assumed office on July 31, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birx, Donald Scientists from Pennsylvania New Mexico State University faculty University of Houston System people Plymouth State University people Pennsylvania State University faculty UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni Miami University alumni University of Dayton alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)