Kearney is a successful researcher in the Hank Virtual Environments Lab.

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Kearney served as associate dean for research and development in CLAS from 2003 to 2016 and was pivotal in the development of cluster initiatives at the UI such as the Public Digital Arts Cluster, the Public Humanities in the Digital World initiative, and the Iowa Informatics Initiative. He received the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, award for faculty excellence in 2017.