Provost announces leadership appointments, updates on searches

 

Purdue University’s Office of the Provost is announcing a series of administrative updates, led by the appointments of the next vice provost for enrollment management and the inaugural director of the Faculty Awards and Recognition Office.

A leadership update on Thursday (Dec. 7) by Patrick Wolfe, Purdue provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, included the following announcements:

• After a national search, Cherise Hall has been selected as the next vice provost for enrollment management, effective immediately.
  
  
• John Grundy has been named director of the new Faculty Awards and Recognition Office, effective Jan. 2, 2024. Launched earlier this year, this office will work closely with Purdue faculty to compete for prestigious national and international awards that reflect their scholarly excellence.
  
  
• Dr. Jerome Adams, executive director of Health Equity Initiatives at Purdue, will lead a search advisory committee to find the next dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences.
  
  
• Searches are also being launched for Vice Provost for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars, and Associate Vice Provost of the John Martinson Honors College and Honors Programs.

Vice provost for enrollment management

After a national search conducted with assistance from WittKieffer, widely considered the leading search firm in this area, Hall has been named vice provost for enrollment management.  She will oversee the Office of Admissions, the Division of Financial Aid, Enrollment Management Strategic Communications and Initiatives, and the Office of the Registrar.

“Enrollment management at Purdue is a campuswide effort, requiring strong relationships across many areas of our university to ensure our ongoing success in attracting the best and brightest students each year,” Wolfe said. “Cherise’s deep expertise across Purdue functions makes her well placed to lead our enrollment management team.”

Said Hall: “These are exciting times at Purdue, and this is truly an honor to lead and advance the university’s recruitment efforts in attracting the best and brightest students. There are few roles more vital to our strategic efforts and student success than enrollment management and Purdue’s land-grant mission in growing the knowledge of the next generation of Boilermakers and global leaders.”

A graduate of Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics, Hall has worked in various strategic and financial roles across the university for more than two decades. She served as director of financial affairs for the College of Agriculture for nine years before taking on her role in the Office of the Provost in 2018 and her most recent promotion to vice provost for finance and strategic initiatives two years ago.

Director of Faculty Awards and Recognition Office

In this new office within the Office of the Provost, Grundy will work closely with campus faculty and leadership to advance its directive to encourage and support faculty in seeking external awards and prestigious recognitions. To facilitate the effort, the faculty affairs website has been updated to include two new submission forms. Grundy will lead the support team in this office and report to Sunil Prabhakar, vice provost for faculty affairs.

Grundy currently serves as assistant director of faculty external recognition in the College of Engineering. In that role, he prepares nomination packages while using various data sources to strengthen the evidence base for nomination decisions by College of Engineering leadership and to support institutional benchmarking. Grundy came to Purdue in 2019 as faculty awards specialist in the College of Engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degree from York University, master’s degree from Carleton University and PhD from York University.

Search for Dean of College of Health and Human Sciences

Dr. Adams, executive director of Health Equity Initiatives, will lead a search advisory committee to find the next dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. Provost Wolfe will solicit suggestions for members for the search advisory committee, and the group will begin meeting in January.

“As the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and former Indiana State Health Commissioner, Dr. Adams has been at the forefront of America’s most pressing health challenges, and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role,” Wolfe said.

Marion Underwood, who had served as HHS dean since coming to Purdue in 2018, stepped down to become the next provost and executive vice president at Colorado State University. Health sciences professor Aaron Bowman, head of Purdue’s School of Health Sciences since 2018, has served as interim HHS dean since Nov. 1 and will continue to serve in this capacity until the next leader is in place.

Vice provost for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars

A national search will be launched for the leader of Purdue’s Office for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars in early January. Overseeing graduate student programs, this position will focus on maximizing the success of and support for graduate and professional students and postdoctoral scholars across all departments and colleges. Purdue offers over 70 departmental and interdisciplinary graduate programs, including degree, nondegree and certificate programs. Each program includes research or study areas, which provide a total of more than 600 options.

Eric Barker, the Jeannie and Jim Chaney Dean of the College of Pharmacy, has filled the additional role of (acting) associate provost for graduate programs since June. Earlier in the year, Barker accepted Wolfe’s request to undertake a thoughtful study of Purdue’s graduate student programs.

Master’s and PhD students are the engine that powers leading research universities like Purdue, which is investing nearly $20 million over two years in raising student stipends and launching the Presidential Doctoral Excellence Awards. Barker and Wolfe, through further consultation with students and faculty, have expanded support for graduate programs at the department, college and university levels with the following principles:

• The North Star is student success. More resources are being devoted to students and processes streamlined and maximized to ease the life of graduate students as the programs grow simultaneously in size and quality.
  
  
• All essential centralized functionalities at the university level are continued, including hosting certain interdisciplinary graduate degree programs.
  
  
• Additional resources and support for master’s, doctoral, and professional degree students will be provided.

Associate vice provost of John Martinson Honors College and honors programs

A national search will be launched in early January for the next leader of the John Martinson Honors College and honors programs. This position will oversee Purdue’s campuswide academic honors efforts, including the John Martinson Honors College.

Since May, Jenna Rickus, vice provost for teaching and learning, has been heading the Honors College team to create a leadership transition strategy as the college celebrates its 10th anniversary. She has used this time of transition to reflect on accomplishments, excellence and areas of growth and improvement – utilizing study and conversations with stakeholders to set a trajectory of accelerated forward momentum into the college’s second decade. The John Martinson Honors College is recognized as a Top 20 Honors College in the U.S. by College Transitions and a Top Fulbright Producer for the U.S. Student Program. It is home to 3,074 highly motivated students studying across all disciplines. 

Writer: Phillip Fiorini, pfiorini@purdue.edu