Executive Vice President and Provost Christine Maziar appointed Bloomfield to fill the position she vacated earlier this month. Bloomfield said it will be difficult to fill Maziar’s shoes.

“It will be very hard to obtain the standard she has set,” Bloomfield said. “But we have a very good staff.”

A biochemist and biophysicist, Bloomfield came to the University in 1970. He served as head of the department of biochemistry until 1991.

Bloomfield presided as chairman of the Faculty Consultative Committee in 1996. In 1998, he became associate dean and vice provost of research – a position he will retain during the next year while serving as interim dean.

Bloomfield, who will serve for approximately a year, said he looks forward to the position.

“It’s an interesting challenge and an interesting job,” Bloomfield said.

He said he’d like to work on support systems for graduate students.

“That means things like working on placement, career mechanisms, devoting time to housing issues and recruitment of graduate students from an increasingly diverse population,” Bloomfield said.

University research remains a focus for many graduate students, Bloomfield said. With his two positions, Bloomfield said he’d like to concentrate on what the Graduate School and the research department can do for one another.

“We want to work on interdisciplinary research programs and continue to pay attention to that,” Bloomfield said.