Biography
With a BS from the University of Illiniois at Urbana-Champaign, a PhD from Caltech, and a postdoctoral stint at Stanford University, I started my faculty career back in Urbana-Champaign before coming to the University of Georgia in 1987. I pursued a productive research program while moving up the administrative ladder, acting as Department Head (1996 – 2003), then Associate Vice President for Research (2007 – 2016). Now back in Chemistry, I am teaching a graduate course in Group Theory, and spending the rest of my time working on administrative data-driven projects for several administrative offices at the University.
I approach new initiatives from an analytical, evidence-based perspective, while embracing and managing change. I have a keen interest in the ability to integrate authoritative enterprise data to use in data-driven strategic decision-making. I balance strategic thinking with the attention to detail needed to "just get it done." I thrive on inclusiveness, transparency, and consensus-building. My current focus is on UGA Elements (elements.uga.edu), business process modeling and continuous improvement in an academic department (Chemistry), and consulting for the Office of Research and the OneSource and OneUSG projects. TEST
Education
1980-1981, National Institutes of Health NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (with Keith O. Hodgson)
1975-1980, Ph.D., Chemistry, 1980, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (with Harry B. Gray); Dissertation title: "Metalloprotein Electron Transfer. Cytochrome aa3 Reduction Kinetics and Theoretical Formulation of Distance Dependence"
1971-1975, B. S., Chemistry (summa cum laude), University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (with Gilbert P. Haight, Jr.); Thesis title: "Redox Catalysis of the Hydrolysis of Phosphoester and Phosphoanhydride Bonds"
Research
Past principal research interests involved biochemical and biophysical measurements and post-genomic approaches to the study of systems of importance in environmental sciences, biomedicine, and bioenergy. We used x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) in the elucidation of structural details of metalloprotein active sites. We studied regulatory transcription factors and their protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. We applied proteomics and genomics technologies to the study of transcriptional regulatory networks in prokaryotes, focusing on hydrogen production in prokaryotes as an alternative fuel.
Selected Publications
Johnson, M. K., & Scott, R. A. (2017). Metalloprotein Active Site Assembly. John Wiley & Sons.
Lipscomb, G. L., Schut, G. J., Scott, R. A., & Adams, M. W. W. (2017). SurR is a master regulator of the primary electron flow pathways in the order Thermococcales. Molecular Microbiology, 104(5), 869-881. doi:10.1111/mmi.13668
O'Halloran, T. V. (2013). Metals in Cells. V. Culotta, & R. A. Scott (Eds.).
Lipscomb, G. L., Stirrett, K., Schut, G. J., Yang, F., Jr, J. F. E., Scott, R. A., . . . Westpheling, J. (2011). Natural Competence in the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus Facilitates Genetic Manipulation: Construction of Markerless Deletions of Genes Encoding the Two Cytoplasmic Hydrogenases. APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, 77(7), 2232-2238. doi:10.1128/AEM.02624-10
Yang, H., Lipscomb, G. L., Keese, A. M., Schut, G. J., Thomm, M., Adams, M. W. W., . . . Scott, R. A. (2010). SurR regulates hydrogen production in Pyrococcus furiosus by a sulfur-dependent redox switch. MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, 77(5), 1111-1122. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07275.x
Frenking, G. (2009). Computational Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry. E. I. Solomon, R. A. Scott, & R. B. King (Eds.).
Ma, Z., Cowart, D. M., Ward, B. P., Arnold, R. J., DiMarchi, R. D., Zhang, L., . . . Giedroc, D. P. (2009). Unnatural Amino Acid Substitution as a Probe of the Allosteric Coupling Pathway in a Mycobacterial Cu(I) Sensor. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 131(50), 18044-+. doi:10.1021/ja908372b
Lipscomb, G. L., Keese, A. M., Cowart, D. M., Schut, G. J., Thomm, M., Adams, M. W. W., & Scott, R. A. (2009). SurR: a transcriptional activator and repressor controlling hydrogen and elemental sulphur metabolism in Pyrococcus furiosus. MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, 71(2), 332-349. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06525.x
Schofield, R. M. S., Niedbala, J. C., Nesson, M. H., Tao, Y., Shokes, J. E., Scott, R. A., & Latimer, M. J. (2009). Br-rich tips of calcified crab claws are less hard but more fracture resistant: A comparison of mineralized and heavy-element biological materials. JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY, 166(3), 272-287. doi:10.1016/j.jsb.2009.01.007
Behrens, S. S. (2008). Nanomaterials: Inorganic and Bioinorganic Perspectives. C. M. Lukehart, & R. A. Scott (Eds.).
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2013
Farrell W. Lytle Award, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, 2008
Associate Vice President for Research, University of Georgia, 2007 - 2016
President, Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 2006-2008
Distinguished Research Professorship, University of Georgia, 2003-2013
Presidential Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation, 1985-1990