MONMOUTH – Kent Neely, Ph.D. will join Western Oregon University on August 1, 2008 as the new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He comes to WOU from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he has been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Neely join Western Oregon University,” said President John P. Minahan, Ph.D. “His background and accomplishments demonstrate that he is an exceptional advocate for education. He has distinguished himself as a leader and strategic thinker who will help this institution, and its people, continue to thrive.”

Neely has been in higher education for 31 years, and 25 of those years were spent teaching in the classroom. His ambition to teach was sparked early in life and he followed that to college, where he was certified to teach at the secondary level and entered graduate school to become a college professor.

His student career also focused on theatre. He earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and theatre, and then he completed master’s and doctoral degrees in theatre from Wayne State University. Neely entered his undergraduate program with a desire to act, but soon learned that his passion was with the business side of theatre.

After finishing his doctorate, he began teaching theatre. A majority of his teaching career was with the University of Minnesota where he also worked as managing director of the university theatre. In 1994 he joined Boise State University to serve as chair of the Department of Theatre until 1998 and then to serve as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He joined SIUE in 2001.

“With Dr. Neely’s extensive administrative experience, especially as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE, the search committee found him to be an excellent candidate,” said Bryan Dutton, associate professor of biology and chair of the provost search committee. “We are very pleased that he has accepted the position and look forward to his arrival later this year.”

Neely is proud of his many accomplishments at SIUE. He oversaw 19 academic departments, eight units, and a staff of 12. He finalized funding to create the first endowed professorship on campus, which gave awards to faculty who did outstanding work. Neely also oversaw the design and implementation of the new first year experience and directed the completion of the second strategic plan for the college.

He looks forward to bringing his experience and background to WOU. “The kinds of innovations that have gone on at Western have demonstrated that the institution is looking to continue to grow and be innovative to respond to student needs and financial challenges,” said Neely. “I credit the President for having this kind of vision and I hope I can help to provide the kind of security with the way the institution operates so that it can continue to flourish.”

When he arrives on campus in August, he plans to talk with people to learn what they believe needs to be addressed and challenges they see. He will draw on the expertise of faculty and staff to help him develop responses to those challenges and plan for the future of the institution.

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Contact:
Kent Neely - Provost
618-650-5047 or 618-979-6999, or kneely@siue.edu

David McDonald - Associate Provost
503-838-8919 or mcdonald@wou.edu

Bryan Dutton - Associate Professor, Department of Biology
503-838-8452 or duttonb@wou.edu