Leadership Updates - 8/25/2023

We would like to inform you of leadership updates in key areas of the University.

Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Dr. Janet Hartley will be joining the Provost’s Office on Sept. 5 as the interim vice provost for academic affairs. Dr. Hartley currently serves as associate dean for graduate programs, faculty, budgets and research in the Schmidthorst College of Business. Promoted to the rank of professor in 2005, she served as chair of the Management Department and was named the Owens-Illinois Professor of Business Administration in 2006. In May 2023, she was awarded the inaugural Chan K. Hahn Professorship in Supply Chain Management. Dr. Hartley’s experience as an academic leader and administrator at BGSU positions her well to serve as interim vice provost.

College of Technology, Architecture, and Applied Engineering
This fall, we will launch a national search for the next dean and academic leader for the College of Technology, Architecture, and Applied Engineering, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2024. In the interim, Dr. Kendall T. Harris will serve as an interim dean beginning Aug. 28. Dr. Harris comes to us through The Registry, a national firm that places interim executive leaders in higher education. A licensed professional engineer, Dr. Harris most recently served as provost and vice president of academic affairs and research at Texas Southern University, where he was a professor of electrical engineering. Dr. Harris also previously served as dean of the College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M University. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Mississippi; bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering and psychology from the University of Kansas; and is a graduate of the Naval Aviation Officer School, where he served as a U.S. Naval officer and aviator.

Vice President for Research
A renewed national search for a permanent Vice President of Research is underway. Please visit the Leadership Updates page for information on the search.

In the meantime, Dr. Ali Eskandarian will be joining BGSU on Aug. 30 as the interim vice president for research. Dr. Eskandarian also comes to us through The Registry and has extensive leadership and research experience in higher education, industry and government. He served most recently as dean and professor of physics and vice provost for online learning at Stevenson University. Accomplished in a variety of scientific disciplines, he has partnered with national laboratories, nonprofits, private industry and international organizations on multiple projects and initiatives. While at George Washington University, he held administrative leadership roles, including dean and chief executive, Virginia Science and Technology Campus; dean, College of Professional Studies; and senior associate dean, strategic initiatives and research. Dr. Eskandarian, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), earned a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and a bachelor’s in physics from George Washington University.

As we begin another fall semester, we are committed to providing continuity to our faculty, staff and students during these leadership transitions, and I look forward to what we will accomplish in the coming year.