Dr. Daniel Cox has been appointed as the new Dean of Natural Sciences in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. He will begin his appointment on May 1, 2025. Dr. Cox brings an impressive record of leadership, scholarship, and innovation, with extensive experience fostering interdisciplinary research, faculty development, and student success. Dr. Cox has most recently served as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Georgia State University. He is a celebrated scholar of neuroscience whose distinguished research career will further strengthen ASU’s position as a leader in natural sciences education and discovery. Prior to his role as Associate Dean, Dr. Cox was Director of the Neuroscience Institute and the Brains & Behavior university-wide area of focus spanning three colleges and fifteen academic departments. Dr. Cox received his B.S. in Biology from Wake Forest University, Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Genetics from Duke University, and completed his postdoctoral training in Neuroscience as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow for Medical Research and an HHMI Research Associate at the University of California, San Francisco. His research interests focus on uncovering molecular programs that drive neuronal circuit construction, with an emphasis on dendrite development, and elucidating the mechanistic underpinnings of pain perception, sensory neuropathies, and multimodal sensory processing. His laboratory has been continuously funded by the NIH for 20 years.
David M. Bellar has been appointed as the fifth President of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University. He will assume his new role on July 14, 2025. Dr. Bellar joins FranU from the University of West Florida where he serves as the Dean of Usha Kundu, MD College of Health. During his tenure, he received a $6.68 million grant to enhance health education facilities, secured scholarship funding and gifts of space for immersive learning experiences at two hospitals, aided in implementing strategies to improve NCLEX pass rates to 98% for the School of Nursing, created the first Staff Council on campus, helped secure a partnership with two major hospital systems to support clinical space for nursing programs, and developed a virtual cadaver lab to enhance Anatomy and Physiology education. Dr. Bellar holds a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from Kent State University, a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from John Carroll University and a B.S in Biology and Life Science Chemistry from John Carroll University. Read more.
Jacob Prunuske, M.D. has been appointed as the new Chair of Family Medicine for Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. Dr. Prunuske will begin his duties in this role in late June. Dr. Prunuske is currently the Assistant Dean for clinical learning and professor of family and community medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin – Central Wisconsin. He completed his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and his residency and fellowship training in family medicine at the University of Utah. Dr. Prunuske’s research interests focus on family medicine and public health education. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has maintained a family medicine clinical practice. Read more.
Dr. Ravindra “Ravi” Krovi has been appointed as the new Provost and Senior Vice President for Bowling Green State University effective May 5, 2025. Dr. Krovi is a distinguished academic leader with over fifteen years of senior leadership experience in higher education. Throughout his career, he has successfully leveraged external partnerships with a variety of organizations to develop new programs, faculty positions and student success initiatives. He comes to BGSU from Weber State University, where he has served as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs since 2020. Prior to his work at Weber State University, Dr. Krovi held multiple leadership roles at the University of Akron, including serving as Dean of the College of Business Administration for a decade, where he secured more than $32 million in private philanthropy, as well as corporate and other commitments to support business students and programs. Dr. Krovi holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems & Decision Sciences and M.S. in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Memphis, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Baroda, India. Read more.
Dr. Joyelle Harris has been appointed as the new Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute for Georgia State University. She will begin on January 21, 2025. Dr. Harris currently serves as Executive Director of the Engineering for Social Innovation Center at Georgia Tech. In addition, she holds a primary faculty appointment in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and an adjunct appointment in the Scheller College of Business. Dr. Harris has helped thousands of students gain access to the GA Tech entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. Collectively, her student entrepreneurs have launched over 100 startups, with a significant portion founded by underrepresented minorities and women. Over time, these startups have collectively raised over $100 million in venture capital, achieving a total portfolio valuation of over $1 billion. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Harris was a senior packaging engineer at Intel, where she worked to improve back-end core competencies and managed suppliers who built the package for the Intel die. She also helped to manage corporate social responsibility projects. Before Intel, Dr. Harris was a technical consultant for Exponent Engineering and Scientific Consulting group. In this capacity, she served multiple Fortune 500 clients by analyzing the electrical systems of their consumer products. Dr. Harris was also a consultant for the American Competitiveness Institute, where she evaluated electronic systems for the US Navy. Dr. Harris earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering from Spelman College and Georgia Tech, respectively. She earned her master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton University and her MBA from the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Read more.
Dr. Robert “Keith” Hansen has been appointed as the new Director, Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) for the University of Idaho. Dr. Hansen started his duties on January 6, 2025. Dr. Hansen, a licensed psychologist, has most recently served as the Interim Director of CMHC and as an Assistant Professor at University of Idaho since 2019. Additionally, he served as Coordinator for Alcohol and Other Drugs Services (AODS), and Coordinator for Biofeedback Services. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from George Fox University, a BS in Psychology from Portland State University and an AS in Psychology from Portland Community College.
Mr. Michael Jarvis has been appointed as the new Senior Director of Development for Athletics/Associate Athletic Director for Stony Brook University. Mr. Jarvis will begin his duties on January 27th. Mr. Jarvis has served as the Associate Director of Development, Athletics at Fairfield University since 2021. Prior to Fairfield, he served for two years as the AVP of Business Development at Vanbridge Insurance Services. Mr. Robinson holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from Boston University.
Mr. Robert Robinson has been appointed as the Assistant Vice President for Finance & Administration for Lander University. Mr. Robinson begins his position on January 16th. Mr. Robinson has served in various capacities at Clemson University since 2017, including Program Coordinator for TIGERS ADVANCE, Financial Analyst in the College of Science (Department of Biological Sciences), and most recently as Fiscal Manager for the Office of Global Engagement. Mr. Robinson holds a Bachelor of Human Services degree from Anderson University and an MBA in Business Analytics from Clemson University.
Kenneth T. Christensen has been appointed as the new Chancellor for University of Colorado Denver (CU-Denver). He will officially begin on February 1, 2025. Dr. Christensen joins CU-Denver from Illinois Institute of Technology, where he served as provost, senior vice president for academic affairs, and chief academic officer. During this time, he built a diverse leadership team that collaboratively emphasized strong shared governance to ensure the growth and success of Illinois Tech’s diverse student population. Dr. Christensen also co-led Illinois Tech’s path to Hispanic-Serving Institution status and drove strategic fundraising and partnership building to expand the institution’s impact in education, research and economic development while also ensuring it was a foundational partner in regional research consortia. Prior to Illinois Tech, he served on the faculty at Notre Dame, the University of Illinois and the University of New Mexico. Dr. Christensen earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico. He earned a master’s from the California Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Read more.