About

History of Chief Academic Officers

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER TITLES

YEAR(S) TITLE
1959-1970 Dean of Academic Affairs
1971-1983 Vice President of Academic Affairs
1984 Provost
1985-1993 University Provost
1994-1995 Provost
1996-2000 Provost and Executive Vice President
2001-2006 Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs
2007-2009 Provost and Senior Vice President
2009-present Provost and Executive Vice President

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERs

Name, Total tenure in the role
Title(s), Length of time served under each title

Harris W. Dean  1960-1970
Dean of Academic Affairs (1959-1970)

Alfred H. Lawton  1970-1971
Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs (1970-1971)

Carl D. Riggs  1971-1977
Vice President of Academic Affairs (1971-1977)

William H. Scheuerle  1977-1978
Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs (1977-1978)

Carl D. Riggs  1978-1980
Vice President of Academic Affairs (1978-1980)

Gregory O'Brien  1980-87
Vice President of Academic Affairs (1980-1983)
Provost (1984)
University Provost (1985-1987)

James M. Anker  1987-1988
Acting University Provost (1987-1988)

Gerry G. Meisels  1988-1994
University Provost (1988-1994)

Michael G. Kovac  1994-1995
Provost (1994-1995)

Thomas T. Tighe  1995-2000
Provost (1995)
Provost and Executive Vice President (1996-2000)

S. David Stamps  2000-2003
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President (2000)
Provost and Executive Vice President (2000-2003)

Renu Khator  2003-2007
Interim Provost and Senior Vice President (2003-2004)
Provost and Senior Vice President (2004-2007)

Ralph C. Wilcox  2008-2022
Provost and Senior Vice President (2008)
Provost and Executive Vice President (2009-2022)
Emeritus Provost and Executive Vice President (2022)

Eric Eisenberg  2022-2023
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President (2022-2023)

Prasant Mohapatra 2023-current
Provost and Executive Vice President (2023-current)

Presidents / Chief academic officers (BY YEAR)

YEAR PRESIDENT CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER
1957-1970 John Allen Harris W. Dean
Dean of Academic Affairs (to 1970)
1970-1971 Harris W. Dean
(Interim President)		 Carl D. Riggs
Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 1977)
1971-1976 Cecil Mackey Carl D. Riggs
Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 1977)
1976-1977 William Reece Smith, Jr.
(Interim President)		 Carl D. Riggs
Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 1977)
1977-1978 Carl D. Riggs
(Interim President)		 William H. Scheuerle
Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 1978)
1978-1987 John Lott Brown

Carl D. Riggs
Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 1980)

Gregory O’Brien
Vice President of Academic Affairs/Provost (to 1986)

James M. Anker
Acting University Provost (to 1988)
1988-1993 Francis T. Borkowski

Gerry G. Meisels
Provost (to 1994)
1993-1994

Robert Bryan
(Interim President)

 Gerry G. Meisels
Provost (to 1994)
1994-1999 Betty Castor

Michael G. Kovac
Provost (to 1995)

Thomas Tighe
Provost and Senior Vice President (to 1996)

Thomas Tighe
Provost and Executive Vice President (to 1999)
1999-2000 Richard Peck
(Interim President)		 Thomas Tighe
Provost and Executive Vice President (to 1999)
2000-2019 Judy Genshaft

S. David Stamps
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 2003)

Renu Khator
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs (to 2007)

Ralph C. Wilcox
Provost and Executive Vice President (to 2022)
2019-2021 Stephen Currall Ralph C. Wilcox
Provost and Executive Vice President (to 2022)
2021-Present Rhea Law

Ralph C. Wilcox
Provost and Executive Vice President (to 2022)

Eric Eisenberg
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President (to 2023)

Prasant Mohapatra 
Provost and Executive Vice President (2023-current)