Stuart Borrett Appointed NSF Rotating Program Director

Stuart Borrett, associate provost for Research and Innovation, will serve as rotating program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). For the 2024-25 academic year, Borrett will serve at the NSF headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. His work will support the NSF mission "to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense.”  

"I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the nation, support the advancement of scientific knowledge and learn more about the National Science Foundation,” said Borrett. “This is an exciting opportunity to work with NSF to transform the national research ecosystem to enable more people to participate and make new discoveries.”     

NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across the country and U.S. territories in the non-medical fields of science and engineering. In addition to the foundation’s grant-making mission and support of solutions-oriented research, the agency invests in research discovery and innovation, infrastructure and education and training programs. NSF investments – mainly in the form of grants – contribute to roughly 25% of federal research support for higher education institutions throughout the U.S. 

Borrett will serve as a program director in the NSF Office of Integrative Activities for the Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Equity and Diversity (GRANTED) program. The GRANTED program supports the development of the research enterprise, particularly at emerging research and minority-serving institutions, to expand access and improve research support and service functions across the country. Borrett’s duties will include making funding recommendations on received proposals, developing new opportunities for funding, interacting with potential principal investigators, facilitating merit review panels, monitoring ongoing projects and mentoring junior researchers.   

“NSF’s GRANTED initiative addresses a number of systemic barriers in accessing resources for research, training and STEM education,” said Alicia Knoedler, office head for the Office of Integrative Activities at NSF. “The GRANTED team includes leaders whose knowledge of these barriers is extensive and who are innovators when it comes to reducing these barriers. Dr. Borrett is an exceptional leader and expert within the research enterprise and his wealth of knowledge and broad network of stakeholders will be welcome additions to NSF and the GRANTED team.” 

NSF rotating positions are chosen from a pool of applicants consisting of scientists, engineers and educators. Rotators are uniquely positioned to act as key decision-makers within the broad spectrum of national and international interdisciplinary research—all while maintaining ties with their institutions back home.  

“We are honored the National Science Foundation has selected Dr. Borrett for a program director appointment,” said James J. Winebrake, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “This is a testament to his incredible talents, as well as the research enterprise we are building at UNCW to solve regionally relevant and globally important problems. Dr. Borrett's work with NSF will strengthen our research network and provide a unique perspective into NSF operations and programs.” 

Borrett joined UNCW in 2007 and is a professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology. As the associate provost for Research and Innovation, Borrett oversees seven reporting units on the Research and Innovation Service Team, serves as the university’s senior research officer, and also serves as president of the UNCW Research Foundation. 

During Borrett’s one-year appointment, Justine Reel has been selected to serve as the interim associate provost for UNCW’s Research and Innovation.  

Reel brings over 19 years of administrative experience from a variety of institutions, including her current role as the UNCW College of Health and Human Services’ (CHHS) associate dean for research and innovation and professor since 2014, and previous interim appointments as CHHS dean and Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance (SPARC) director. Her experience and knowledge of UNCW position her to provide strong leadership for the university’s research and innovation enterprise while supporting the work and initiatives of the seven reporting units.