Arthur J. Rothkopf, president of Lafayette College, has announced the appointment of David Johnson, professor of English, as associate provost and David Veshosky, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, as director of research services. Johnson and Veshosky will assume the responsibilities previously handled by Jeff Bader, who served as associate provost and director of research services for nearly 15 years. Both positions will report to the provost.
Johnson, who has been in the English department since 1974 and chaired the department for nine years, brings both knowledge and experience to the position not only as teacher/scholar, but also as a faculty member who has held leadership roles on both faculty and trustee committees. Over the years, he has chaired the Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Compensation Committee, the Athletics Committee, the Governance Committee, the Library Committee, and the Faculty Academic Policy Committee, and he has served on the Board of Trustees’ Educational Policy Committee and Athletics and Student Affairs Committee. In his role as associate provost, he will not only be responsible for the numerous academic division budgets, but will also work with faculty on program development, assume a number of the tasks previously handled by the provost, and work with the provost, the president, and the faculty on strategic planning. His will be a full-time commitment, intended to occupy him through the end of fiscal year 2003-04.
Veshosky, who has been at Lafayette since 1991, will be continuing his responsibilities as associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and chair of the A.B. Engineering program, assuming the responsibilities of director of research services on a part-time basis. With degrees in civil engineering, technology and public policy, and business and economics, and as chair of a program that bridges the liberal arts and engineering, Veshosky brings considerable breadth to the position. Moreover, as chair of last year’s Academic Research committee, he is well equipped to work with faculty on internal grants, the EXCEL Scholars program, and other research-related matters. As director of research services, he will be Lafayette’s representative to the National Council on Undergraduate Research. His appointment is also intended to be for a three-year term.
“In the eight years that June Schlueter has served as provost and the six years since the launching of the Lafayette Leadership Campaign, the College’s academic achievements have been manifest,” says Rothkopf. “The challenge of the next several years will be to maintain the momentum while pursuing a focused agenda of still unmet goals that will secure Lafayette’s position among this nation’s top undergraduate colleges. I am confident that with the excellent team the provost has in place, the next several years will be exciting and successful ones.”