Derek J. Hodgson served as IUP's president in 2003.
He was born in England and received his pre-college education there. In 1961, he came to the United States to attend Harvard University as an undergraduate and has made this country his home ever since. After graduation from Harvard in 1965, he attended Northwestern University, receiving the M.S. in Chemistry in 1968 and the Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry in 1969.
Hodgson began his academic career in 1969 as assistant professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina, rising to the ranks of associate professor in 1974 and professor in 1977. In 1987, he became head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wyoming and was appointed vice president for Research in 1990. In 1994, he was appointed provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Mississippi State University. In July of 1998, he became vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Hodgson is the author or co-author of more than 250 scholarly publications in chemistry and related fields. He has attracted several million dollars in grants and contracts in support of institutional and individual research.
In the international arena, he has served as a visiting scholar of the National Science Council of Taiwan, the Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National Defense Academy of Japan, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), and Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Auckland (New Zealand). In 1993, he served as chair of an advisory group to University College, Dublin, Ireland, when that college was examining its administrative structure. He also served on the three-person advisory board of a private college in Bangalore, India, and he currently serves on the editorial board of an international scientific journal.
Hodgson has received several honors and awards. He has been a Kenan Research Fellow and a winner of the University of North Carolina's Tanner Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, and Golden Key and Cardinal Key honor societies. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of Merit by the Universidad Romullo Gallegos, Venezuela.