Welker Named Interim Provost

Wake Forest has named an interim provost and formed a search committee to seek a replacement for Provost Jill Tienfenthaler.

Tiefenthaler was named president of Colorado College in Colorado Springs earlier this month. Her resignation as provost will be effective June 30.

President Nathan O. Hatch announced today that Vice Provost Mark Welker will serve as interim provost. Welker, who is also the William L. Poteat Professor of Chemistry, joined the faculty in 1987. He was named associate provost in 2003 and vice provost in 2010.

Hatch also announced the formation of a search committee. “I look on the appointment of the provost as one of the most important decisions that a president makes, and this search has now become one of my top priorities,” Hatch wrote in an email to faculty and staff.

“We start this search from a position of great strength. I believe that we have the opportunity to build on the great successes that Jill Tiefenthaler’s tenure as provost has brought us, and I am convinced that this position will be a very attractive one to talented and experienced candidates.”

Hatch also announced the members of the search committee, which he will chair:

• Christa Colyer, Chemistry
• James Cotter, Senior University Appointments Committee representative
• Jill Crainshaw, Divinity School
• Timothy Davis, Law School
• Thomas DuBose, Medical School
• William Fleeson, Psychology
• Mary Foskett, Religion
• Cynthia Gendrich, Theatre and Dance
• Katy Harriger, Political Science
• Hof Milam, Senior Vice President and CFO
• Michelle Roehm, Schools of Business
• Rosalind Tedford, Z. Smith Reynolds Library

Mary Pugel, chief of staff in the President’s Office, will staff the committee. Lisa Prigohzy-Milius, managing director of Presidio Executive Search Inc., will serve as the search consultant.

Hatch said he hoped to fill the Provost’s position as soon as possible, but added that the search process “will conclude only when we have found someone who will provide the unique combination of academic and leadership talents our students, faculty and staff deserve.

“What we have all achieved together during the last four years makes Wake Forest University a very appealing place,” Hatch wrote. “The next provost will have the opportunity to help us realize even more fully Wake Forest’s goals of educating the whole person, attracting and retaining the very best teacher/scholars, and creating a vibrant campus community for students and faculty.”

Additional information about the search process can be found at http://search.provost.wfu.edu.