Morales will oversee the University's grants and other sponsored programs that generate millions of dollars in funding annually for CSU Stanislaus academic and research programs.
"His extensive experience with the federal granting process, pre-award grant development, and post-award grant administration, along with his distinguished record, will help position CSU Stanislaus to develop even greater support for research, scholarship, and creative activities of our faculty and students," said William A. Covino, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
At the National Science Foundation, Morales was program director of the Systematic Biology and Biodiversity cluster in the Division of Environmental Biology. He helped develop initiatives for increasing diversity in the sciences.
While with the National Science Foundation, Morales held an appointment as Associate Research Scientist at the Columbia University Center for Environmental Research and Conservation in New York where he was also coordinator of the Conservation Genetics Laboratory. He has done extensive research in mammalian molecular evolution and conservation, and has done field work in several countries working with a diverse group of organisms such as primates, rhinoceros, and bats. Morales received his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University and has published numerous scientific articles in major international journals. He has advised undergraduate and graduate students in molecular genetics and biodiversity conservation.