Chad B. Walton, Ph.D.

Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of Hawai‘i

Dr. Chad B. Walton, Ph.D., serves as the Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation for the University of Hawaiʻi System. In this role, Dr. Walton directs major systemwide research programs and initiatives to align with UH‘s strategic direction and metrics, including STEM education and small business innovation programs. He creates research and workforce/economic development programs to increase community/industry support and strengthen UH‘s technology transfer efforts. Additionally, Walton works with the UH Foundation to oversee the development of the UH System Office of Strategic Philanthropic Partnerships.

After graduating in 2006 from UH-Mānoa (Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering), Chad spent several years at the John A. Burns School of Medicine as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Center for Cardiovascular Research and then as faculty in the Department of Medicine and later Surgery, where he also served as the Director of Trauma Research for the State of Hawaiʻi Trauma System.

Walton is a trained bioengineer who developed technology for National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health-funded grants, with expertise in vaccine development, acoustics-based gene delivery, and molecular cardiology, holding several U.S. patents. He earned degrees from Northern Arizona University, University of Calgary and UH Mānoa. After his PhD, he worked at the John A. Burns School of Medicine before moving to the Department of Surgery, where he served as trauma research director for Hawaiʻi’s Trauma System.

Foundation Board
Term Expires: December 31, 2026