In his role as Vice Provost for Research, John H. Shaw works to support the research enterprise of the University, including its twelve schools, fifteen practicing hospitals, and roughly 30 initiatives, centers, and institutes that bring together faculty across campus and University partners. He helps to advance Harvard’s mission by enabling foundational and transformative research and developing core research support. In this role, John serves on Boards and various committees of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, the Ragon Institute, the Kempner Institute for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), and other programs that support life and physical science research and technology translation. His office also helps the University navigate the federal regulatory landscape for research funding received by Harvard (totaling nearly $1 billion annually) and associated compliance requirements.
John also serves as the Harry C. Dudley Professor of Structural and Economic Geology in the Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) Department, and Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering in the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). He is a structural geologist and applied geophysicist who investigates the nature of faulting in the earth’s crust, with applications to earthquake science. His research is also focused on energy systems and carbon storage, and the environmental impacts of these activities. Shaw offers courses on these topics through FAS and SEAS.
John served as chair of the EPS Department for thirteen years, supporting faculty, affiliated scientists, students, and staff. Activities in this role included strategic planning, faculty hiring and evaluation; oversight of student academic programs; fiscal management and planning; research compliance; fundraising; alumni relations; diversity and inclusion initiatives; and oversight of lab renovations and building operations. John has served on several School- and University-level committees focused on professional conduct and research policy. He recently served as the Chair of the Board of the Southern California Earthquake Center, an international research organization involving more than 90 institutions with federal and private sector funding sources. He is also co-founder of Seismix Reservoir Management, LLC, a firm that helps to assess environmental hazards of energy-related operations for companies, regulatory groups, and others.