Dr. Kent Neely, Provost
Kent Neely began his 32nd year in higher education by joining Western Oregon University to serve as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in August 2008.
Dr. Neely earned his baccalaureate degree in 1971 from Oklahoma City University majoring in speech and drama with a secondary teaching certificate. He pursued the Masters and Doctorate degrees in theatre at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan where he was a member of the nationally recognized Hilberry Repertory Theatre.
Upon completing the Ph.D. in 1976, Dr. Neely taught at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina and then, in 1977, joined the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Dr. Neely remained at Minnesota for 17 years teaching theatre management and theory/criticism, working as Managing Director of the University Theatre, and, between 1992 and 1994, heading the M.A./Ph.D. Program in theatre.
Dr. Neely moved to Boise State University in 1994 to become Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts. He led the creation of the Department’s first strategic plan, expanded development activities, created a new scholarship fund, a guest artist series and an educational outreach program for Idaho schools. In 1998, Dr. Neely became Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In that capacity, he handled student affairs for the eleven departments within the College, administered the University’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program, initiated the Boise State University Distinguished Lecture Series, represented the institution in the International Center for Economic Education Exchange with the Moscow State University Higher School of Economics and the University of Latvia.
Dr. Neely became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2001. He led the College’s 19 departments and programs through extraordinary enrollment growth, added tenure line faculty, saw the departments of Mass Communication, Social Work and Theatre earn discipline specific accreditation, facilitated the introduction of two professional science master’s degrees, created new cross disciplinary ties with the School of Education, partnered with the School of Business to build student and faculty exchange with China’s Xiamen University, enhanced the Black Studies Program and the Women Studies Program, implemented the first endowed professorship at the University, and served as a founding board member of the St. Louis Information Technology Coalition.
Dr. Neely has articles and reviews appearing in Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics, Theatre History Studies, Theatre Design and Technology, High Performance and The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. He has made presentations at regional and national conferences including those of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the Mid America Theatre Conference, the National Association of Schools of Theatre and the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. He has been an executive or a board member of national and regional professional and civic organizations. Dr. Neely has been recognized for his service by the Idaho Council on Economic Education and the Idaho Academic Decathlon and he was made a Fellow of the Mid America Theatre Conference in 2006.
He and his wife, Esther, are both Oklahoma natives and have been married since 1971. They enjoy the arts, entertaining, hiking, motorcycling and home projects.
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