Areas of Oversight:

• ISU research and creative scholarship leadership
• Federal government relations
• Economic development
• Technology transfer and commercialization

Dr. Blair was appointed the Idaho State University Vice President for Research and Economic Development in July 2022. His vision-driven leadership at Idaho State University builds and strengthens collaborative relationships with strategic partners in university, industry, government and philanthropic domains. He guides community-based research, training and service initiatives through collaborative strategy development, implementation and evaluation. Dr. Blair spent nearly three decades as director of numerous state and national research & training initiatives focused on disability policy and education technology implementation. In these leadership roles, Dr. Blair has generated and directed nearly $70 million to improve the quality of services and policies for individuals with disabilities and their families. Since coming to ISU, Dr. Blair has directed a leadership team to support nearly $140 million in external research, training and creative scholarship awards to ISU faculty, staff and students.

Areas of Oversight: 

• Research development
• Research capacity building
• Faculty ASSERT program
• Core research facilities and research centers & institutes
• Undergraduate research

Dr. Michele R. Brumley is the Associate Vice President for Research and a Professor of Psychology at Idaho State University (ISU). She earned her Ph.D. in Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Iowa, and she conducted postdoctoral research at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Brumley joined ISU in 2007 as a tenure-track faculty member and is a recipient of both the ISU Distinguished Researcher and the Distinguished Teacher awards. She has served as the Psychology Department Chair and the Associate Dean for Social & Behavioral Sciences in the College of Arts and Letters. In the Office for Research, she provides oversight for and works on faculty research development, undergraduate research, research core facilities, and institutional research capacity building efforts. Her interdisciplinary research program examines the development of motor behavior following early spinal cord injury, and the role that neural systems and experience play in shaping coordinated behavior. Dr. Brumley’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and she has led cross-campus projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on creating access to college education and mental health support for rural communities in Idaho. Dr. Brumley is a former Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Developmental Psychobiology.

Areas of Oversight:

• Research operations
• Pre-award and research contract administration
• Research security and compliance oversight
• Research space management

Dave B. Harris is a lifelong resident of Bannock County, raised in Tyhee, Idaho, and a proud graduate of Idaho State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in 1999. He began his career at ISU in 1993 as a student employee and has since advanced through various roles to become the Assistant Vice President for Research. In this capacity, Dave plays a key role in supporting and promoting the university’s growing research enterprise, with focus areas of Research Operations, Infrastructure, and Administration.

Dave and his wife, Janelle, share a blended family of five daughters and are proud grandparents to five granddaughters and one grandson. Deeply committed to both his family and his community, Dave finds joy in spending time with loved ones and unwinding on the golf course whenever he can.

Areas of Oversight:

• Idaho National Laboratory (INL) partnership
• Industry research partnerships
• International research agreements and partnerships
• Applied science and engineering initiatives

Dr. Mustafa Mashal is a Special Advisor to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and a Full Professor of Civil Engineering at Idaho State University (ISU). In addition, he holds a joint appointment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory and serves as Director of ISU’s Structural Laboratories and Disaster Response Complex, where he leads cutting-edge research on structural performance, resilience, and disaster mitigation. Dr. Mashal earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, specializing in Structural and Earthquake Engineering. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in precast concrete, seismic design, earthquake engineering, and large-scale structural testing. In 2025, he was named ISU Distinguished Researcher. Dr. Mashal is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Structural Engineering Institute. Throughout his career, he has authored over 200 scholarly publications, holds four granted or filed patents, and actively serves on national committees shaping U.S. building and bridge standards. He has secured more than $6.3 million in research funding, including $4.1 million as Principal Investigator, supporting projects that translate innovative research into real-world applications. His honors include three Fulbright grants, ASCE’s Alfred Noble Prize, AASHTO’s High Value Research Award, the Outstanding Civil Engineer of the Year (ASCE Southern Idaho Section), and Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished Under 40, among others.

Dr. Mashal joined ISU in 2016 after spending more than eight years in industry across three continents. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in both Idaho and New Zealand, and his research has informed the design, assessment, and strengthening of structures around the world. His work exemplifies the integration of innovative research, practical engineering, and global collaboration to advance resiliency and safety of civil and critical infrastructure. 

Areas of Oversight: 

• Meeting and scheduling requests
• General office administration
• Communications

Paddy started her career at ISU in 2017 as a Management Assistant in Enrollment Management. She has served as the Executive Assistant for the Office for Research since 2022. In this role, she is responsible for providing high-level support for the Vice President and Associate Vice President.

In her spare time, Paddy enjoys creating art, off-roading/camping, and spending time with her friends and family.  Paddy is a proud alumna of Idaho State University and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. 

Areas of Oversight:

• Financial and administrative oversight
• Research budget and planning
• ISU fiscal policy compliance

Fred is a Sr. Business and Finance Officer at Idaho State University. Since beginning his career in Higher Education in 2011, he has enjoyed progressively more expansive roles as a business officer at ISU.  He currently works in the Office of Budget and Planning and has assignments in the Office for Research and the College of Science and Engineering.  In these roles, he reports directly to the Vice President of Finance and supervises a team responsible for the financial and administrative activities within these units, including operations in budgeting, payroll, purchasing, financial reporting, and other aspects of unit level fiscal oversight and management.  He works directly with the leadership of these units to develop and implement strategic initiatives.  He has substantial experience in grant management and compliance and serves on the Executive Leadership team of the Vice President for Research, working to ensure the productivity of the research endeavor. He serves on a number of University Wide committees, including the ISU Budget Advisory Group, which recently developed a new budget model for the university to align the budget with key performance indicators.

Fred graduated from Idaho State with his degree in Finance in 2000, and began a career as an entrepreneur and real estate professional. He returned to ISU and began teaching as an adjunct instructor after completing his MBA in 2010.  He has developed and delivered courses in Real Estate Finance, Entrepreneurial Finance, and Corporate Finance.  He is a board member of the Pocatello Development Authority and has served in a number of leadership roles in the local and statewide Lions Club.