After a semester of UH lacking a senior vice chancellor and this month’s open forums, the Provost Search Committee nears its adjournment.

Foley

The finalists are Henry Foley, vice president of Research and dean of the Graduate School of Pennsylvania State University, and Jorge Haddock, dean of School of Management for George Mason University. The remaining two will soon learn who takes the official position in UH’s Office of Academic Affairs.

“If you consider my record, you will see that I am a scholar and a researcher, as well as a teacher, but more importantly that I have held every academic leadership position save for Provost or President,” Foley said in the cover letter for his curriculum vitae.

According to the letter, Foley’s administrative experience is strongest in finance, strategic planning and change management. At Penn State, he currently oversees a “research enterprise” with $810 million of annual expenditure activity, a budget of $49 million and about 450 professional staff members.

Including top flight scientists from Huck Institute for Life Sciences and the Materials Research Institute, six internationally reputed experts from these enterprises report to Foley while he remains working in this role.

“Through each of these institutes, I am in touch with all facets of the university’s scholarship and research, from those who are interrogating Bose-Einstein Condensates to others who are most interested in the literary articulation of the human condition,” Foley said.

In Haddock’s cover letter, he outlines his background as a tenured professor in a level-one research institution and dean of a liberal arts college of more than 4,000 students.

Haddock

“Numerous experiences have prepared me for this position,” Haddock said in the letter. “I am a traditional scholar who rose through the ranks at Rensselaer from assistant to full professor.”

In a parenthetical statement of the same paragraph, Haddock said that to the best of his knowledge, he is the first person belonging to an under-represented minority to accomplish that feat.

Haddock said he has authored or co-authored 75 publications, 42 other scholarly reports and multiple research proposals resulting in 20 approved projects.

“In terms of leadership roles, I consistently held administrative and leadership positions at Clemson and Rensselaer before transitioning to the Lally School of Management and Technology,” Haddock said.

“I am committed to a rigorous academic process.”

Initially joining Foley and Haddock was David Manderscheid. Manderscheid, the dean of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Arts and Sciences, removed himself from the race for undisclosed reasons before his forum, which was set for this past Wednesday.

The Provost Search Committee made it’s official observations and suggestions to President and Chancellor Renu Khator on Thursday, and pending her approval or dismissal, either Haddock or Foley will step in and release Paula Short, who has been serving in the interim position, from the chief academic officer’s responsibilities.

One of the provost’s first duties will be to appoint a search committee seeking a Law Center Dean.

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