Vice President for Research & Economic Development
Auburn University

Steve Taylor is senior vice president for research & economic development at Auburn University. Previously, he served as interim dean of Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in April 2022.

Taylor also served as Auburn Engineering’s associate dean for research, where he was responsible for coordination and promotion of the college’s research across all academic departments and research centers. He provided support and leadership through creative partnerships involving academia, industry and government collaborators. Prior to his role as associate dean, he served as a professor and head of the Department of Biosystems Engineering, while also directing the Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts.

While serving as Auburn Engineering’s associate dean for research, Taylor led significant growth in the college’s annual external funding that saw nearly $300 million in new research contracts awarded. He facilitated the creation of the Auburn University Applied Research Institute and Auburn University Transportation Research Institute and he helped secure funding for several new research facilities such as Auburn’s Advanced Structural Engineering Laboratory. Additionally, he led the efforts to acquire and operationalize the university’s Research and Innovation Campus in Huntsville’s Cummings Research Park.

Taylor began teaching at Auburn in 1989, served as the biosystems engineering department head from 2003-16. In that position, Taylor led the department through a transformative phase where he was able to hire new faculty, develop new undergraduate and graduate degree programs that spurred substantial growth in student enrollment, construct new laboratory facilities and significantly expand their research and extension programs.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering from the University of Florida and a doctorate in the same discipline from Texas A&M.