Philip Haydon has been named associate director of the Microanalytical Instrumentation Center (MIC), and he said he hopes he will be able to work with other MIC officials on new kinds of research.

Haydon, professor of zoology and genetics, has a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in physiology from the University of Leeds, England.

Haydon, who has been at Iowa State since 1986, will continue to be a professor. He said he already has been serving informally as associate director for some time.

“I’ve essentially been doing the work of the associate director,” he said. However, he called his new appointment “a very exciting opportunity.”

Director of MIC Marc Porter said Haydon is qualified for this position, saying that the appointment “recognizes his contributions.”

“He’s played an important leadership role in the direction of the center, as well as a pivotal role in securing support for the educational and research mission of the center,” he said.

MIC, a member of the Institute for Physical Research and Technology at ISU, provides microscopic instrumentation for scientific research.

Haydon said he and Porter have been working together for the past few years in developing new instrumentation centers for MIC.

Haydon said he hopes their work can produce new types of research.

“Marc is a chemist; I’m a biologist,” Haydon said. “Our work requires skills of both types of scientists. We’re developing new approaches for research.”

Haydon said he wants their research to bring together and support different sciences.

“My hope is that we’ll be able to promote faculty in biology, as well as physical sciences to do new, exciting projects,” he said.

One project Porter and Haydon will be working on through MIC is a new imaging center in the Molecular Biology building.

Haydon said the state-of-the-art microscopy center’s funding is provided through the Carver Trust and ISU.

“Our plans are to develop this facility into a national facility so that people will come to ISU to work in it,” he said. “We want to extend beyond the boundaries of the university.”