UB taps Moises Sudit to lead sponsored programs

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Moises Sudit, an entrepreneur, professor and center director, has been appointed UB’s associate vice president for sponsored programs.

In this role, Sudit will work with faculty, deans and others to manage UB’s sponsored funding portfolio, and lead and participate in the university’s efforts to attract and be awarded large-scale, interdisciplinary sponsored projects, as well as other high-profile awards that advance UB’s mission across research, education and economic development.

Sudit will oversee UB’s Sponsored Projects Services and the Office of Research Advancement. He will be a member of the senior leadership team of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and will report to Venu Govindaraju, interim vice president for research and economic development.

“I am delighted that Moises will step into this role, working with faculty and university leadership in the management of UB’s diverse and complex sponsored funding environment,” says Govindaraju. “Moises is a UB principal investigator himself, and therefore understands the customer’s perspective and, in addition, understands the regulatory environment that governs sponsored awards. I have full confidence that he will lead the offices of Research Advancement and Sponsored Projects Services to new levels of activity and customer satisfaction.”

Sudit has been affiliated with UB since joining the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as an assistant professor in 1988. He currently is a professor in the school’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and executive director of UB’s Center for Multisource Information Fusion. He grew the center’s research funds by nearly 2,000 percent — to $10 million yearly — during his decade-long tenure there.

“I am extremely grateful that my relationship with UB, which has lasted close to 30 years thus far, will continue in a way that will allow me to give back as much as I have received,” says Sudit, who is also vice president of the Data Science and Information Fusion Group at CUBRC, a Buffalo-based company that works with the nation’s defense, intelligence and homeland security communities.

Sudit says his background in industry, combined with his academic experience as a research professor, give him “a unique perspective on how to approach the different avenues for sponsor funding that will guide UB to obtain large, cooperative grants and further foster industrial relations.”

Sudit founded Datumtech in 1989, growing the company from a startup to a recognized worldwide supplier of mobile data applications. Nine years later, the company merged with Veridian, which is now General Dynamics, a Falls Church, Virginia-based aerospace and defense company. He also partnered with Bell Mobility and the Lenbrook Group to co-found AirIQ, a Canadian wireless data company.

From 2002 to 2008, Sudit served as director of business development for multidisciplinary programs in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.

A native of Peru, Sudit has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s in operations research from Stanford University and a doctorate from Purdue University. He also serves on the board of directors for Independent Health Association and the Buffalo Urban League.