Joseph C. Hall, a tenured professor of chemistry and former vice president for research and economic development at Norfolk State, is serving as interim dean of the university’s College of Science, Engineering, and Technology.

Hall’s appointment as interim dean was announced by Making Waves, Norfolk State’s newsletter for faculty, staff, alumni, and friends.

Hall has a sterling record at Norfolk State.

As vice president for research and economic development, he helped the university reach one of its highest levels of grants submitted and grants funded in its history.

Hall also facilitated a $3.6 million grant to establish the first National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences at Norfolk State University.

The Center received consecutive award funding during the five-year grant period and its members published more 85 peer-reviewed papers related to the Center’s research objectives.

A longtime resident of Virginia, Hall earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Roanoke College, which is located in Salem Virginia; and a master’s degree, also in biology, from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

Hall earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Kent State University in Ohio.

After a post-doctoral fellowship award in biophysical chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Hall returned to Virginia to serve as a chemistry professor at Norfolk State University.

Hall is a published researcher with seminal papers in chemistry,  conference presentations, and books. He has also served as secretary and president of the Norfolk State University Faculty Senate.