Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, Texas A&M Univ., Commerce

Dr. Larry Lemanski serves as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M University, Commerce.  Dr. Lemanski is the second ranking administrative officer and the chief academic officer of the University.  He is responsible for the oversight, evaluation and leadership of Academic Affairs including all of the Academic Colleges and research programs at the University.  Dr. Lemanski also serves as a liaison with external constituents regarding academic and research activities. 

Prior to joining A&M Commerce in July 2009, Dr. Lemanski held the position of Senior Vice President for Research and Strategic Initiatives at Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Lemanski has served in a number of university faculty and leadership roles throughout his career including:

• Assistant Professor of Anatomy in the College of Medicine at the  University of California, San Francisco
• Assistant, Associate and Full Professor of Anatomy in the College of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Professor and Chairperson of Anatomy and Cell Biology as well as Founding Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology Program in the College of Medicine at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse
• Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
• President and CEO of Florida Atlantic University Research Corporation and Vice President for Research at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton

Dr. Lemanski’s education includes:

• University of Wisconsin, Platteville (Biology major; Chemistry minor), B.S. (with honors)
• Arizona State University (Zoology), M.S. and Ph.D.
• He then spent five years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.       

Dr. Lemanski has authored over 300 publications, has won a number of prestigious professional prizes and awards, has given invited lectures throughout the world and has mentored numerous Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows.  Many of his former students and fellows have gone on to very successful and distinguished careers.  He has obtained over fifty million dollars in funding for Research Grants.  Dr. Lemanski has maintained an active research program. Even today, he continues his study of myofibrillogenesis and heart inductive processes in developing embryonic hearts at the cell and molecular levels.  This research program has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. A patent for the sequence and action of a unique nucleic acid sequence has been issued which has the ability to turn non-muscle cells into beating cardiac muscle cells.  This research holds promise for the repair of damaged heart tissues in patients who have suffered heart attacks or have related cardiovascular diseases.