Search for next provost, UW’s chief academic officer, gets underway

A committee to help select the next provost of the University of Wisconsin–Madison has begun its work, with a new provost expected to be in place by fall.

The successful candidate will succeed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Sarah Mangelsdorf, who will have served in the role for five years. In December, it was announced that she will depart UW–Madison at the end of the 2018-19 academic year to assume the presidency of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

The provost is the chief academic officer of the university and the second-ranking officer under the chancellor, responsible for overseeing and coordinating the academic and outreach missions of the university. As the chief academic officer, the provost serves as the chancellor’s partner in articulating and implementing a vision for how UW–Madison retains and builds on its long history of excellence. The provost works closely with the deans and with campus leadership as well as shared governance involving faculty, staff and students to design and implement the programs, organizational structure and resource distribution to deliver on UW–Madison’s threefold mission of education, research and outreach.

The 17-member search and screen committee is chaired by Anja Wanner, professor of English in the College of Letters & Science. Other committee members include:

Paul Campagnola, professor of biomedical engineering, College of Engineering
David Canon, professor of political science, College of Letters & Science
Lee DeBaillie, faculty associate, College of Engineering
Otis Harris, office manager, PEOPLE program, Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement
Diana Hess, dean of the School of Education
Elaine M. Klein, associate dean, College of Letters & Science
Anders Larsen, marketing major, Wisconsin School of Business, student representative
Lori Lopez, associate professor of communication arts, College of Letters & Science
Percival Matthews, assistant professor of educational psychology, School of Education
Patricia McManus, professor of plant pathology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Page Moreau, professor of marketing, Wisconsin School of Business
Dylan Resch, law major, Law School, student representative
Jeff Russell, dean, Division of Continuing Studies
Dietram Scheufele, professor of life sciences communication, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Susan Thibeault, professor, Diane M. Bless Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology, Vice Chair of Research–Surgery, School of Medicine and Public Health
Lisa Walters, executive assistant to the vice chancellor, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

Members of the UW–Madison community are strongly encouraged to nominate candidates, or to apply directly. To nominate a candidate, send a name and institutional affiliation to UWMadisonProvost@storbecksearch.com. You do not need to provide a letter or supporting material and the committee will follow up on all nominations. In order to allow for as much time as possible to recruit candidates, the committee requests that nominations be sent by Friday, Feb. 1, but it will continue to accept nominations after that date.

Read the position description

For questions or comments, contact Carole Kolb, administrative search coordinator, at carole.kolb@wisc.edu or (608) 890-1661.