President-Designate Dr. Rebecca Cunningham

Dr. Rebecca Cunningham currently serves as the vice president for research and innovation at the University of Michigan, where she is responsible for fostering excellence and upholding the institution’s public mission in research, scholarship and creative practice across three campuses. During her leadership tenure, U-M has expanded its research volume to a record $1.86 billion annually as Cunningham led the design and implementation of the first comprehensive review of the U-M research, scholarship and creative practice enterprise.

A faculty member in the U-M Schools of Public Health and Medicine since 1999, Cunningham previously served as the associate vice president for research-health sciences, where she oversaw research faculty affairs and partnered with colleagues across disciplines to facilitate and energize the University’s research agenda. Cunningham served in various leadership positions earlier in her career, including as associate chair of emergency medicine and director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-sponsored Injury Prevention Center at the University of Michigan. As a researcher, Cunningham has earned continuous federal research funding for more than 25 years as a principal investigator and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Cunningham holds a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University and a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor and a postdoctoral research fellowship with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.