Announcing Our Search for the Senior Vice President and Provost

Department(s):

Office of the President

Dear WPI Community: 
 
We are writing to share an update on our progress in the search for the next Senior Vice President and Provost and to announce the membership of the Provost Search Committee.

We would like to sincerely thank the many faculty, staff, and students who participated in listening sessions over the past two months to share ideas and aspirations for WPI and our next Provost. Your input highlighted the qualifications and personal characteristics important for success in this position and was essential as we developed a Position Profile that will provide candidates with a comprehensive overview of WPI and the opportunities and expectations for the role.  
 
The WPI Faculty elected three members for the Provost Search Committee and the Committee on Governance (COG) and President Wang worked collaboratively to assemble the remaining six committee members.  

The committee reflects the diverse backgrounds and broad perspectives of our campus community and is well-equipped to tell our WPI story and attract interest among prospective candidates.  The search committee includes:  

  • Bogdan Vernescu, Search Committee Chair, Vice Provost for Research; and Professor of Mathematical Sciences 
  • Mark Richman, Search Committee Vice Chair, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering; and Secretary of the Faculty 
  • Danielle Cote, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering 
  • Adrienne Hall-Phillips, Associate Professor, Business  
  • Samuel Levitan ’24 (BBT, BS) 
  • Rebecca Moody, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Humanities & Arts 
  • Sydney Packard ’20 (CHE, BS), ’27 (CHE, PhD) 
  • Paul Reilly, Assistant Dean, Student Success 
  • Kris Wobbe, Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, and Integrative and Global Studies; Co-Director, Center for Project-Based Learning 

Our executive search partner, WittKieffer, will use the position profile to build interest and attract a strong and diverse pool of candidates. We invite community members to submit nominations directly to WittKieffer at WPIProvost@wittkieffer.com. The position profile will also be posted on the Provost Search webpage where it can be downloaded and shared.  
 
We are confident, thanks to the work you do every day to make WPI such a remarkable university, that we will attract the strongest possible candidates for this important leadership role.  
 
Sincerely, 
Grace Wang, President 
George Heineman, Chair, Faculty Committee on Governance