Lara Ferry, PhD.

Vice President and Chief Research Innovation Officer, University of Oklahoma
Professor of Biology, Dodge College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oklahoma

Dr. Ferry joined the University of Oklahoma in 2026 as the inaugural Vice President and Chief Research Innovation Officer, and Professor of Biology. Prior to joining OU, Ferry was at Arizona State University for 16+ years, most recently serving as the Vice President for Research. With over 25 years in academia, Ferry is an accomplished field and laboratory scientist, and an award-winning teacher and mentor. Over her research career, she had led or co-led myriad NSF-funded initiatives and research programs including multiple NSF S-STEM efforts. Ferry is trained as a comparative physiologist and functional morphologist, broadly interested in the evolution of jaws. Her recent research is focused on the material properties of cartilage in the jaws of elasmobranch (sharks, skates and rays).

Ferry received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Irvine, working in the Comparative Physiology Graduate Group.