Newswise — American University President Sylvia M. Burwell announced today the selection of Daniel J. Myers as provost and chief academic officer effective January 15, 2019. As chief academic officer, he will oversee all academic schools and units and play a crucial role in the university’s new strategic plan.
“Dan is deeply committed to the integration of scholarship, teaching, and student life as the defining goal of a university, and he has a record of success in achieving it,” said Burwell. He is clearly committed to the elements of our strategy, which we shared as a prominent component of the search process.”
Dr. Myers shares President Burwell’s enthusiasm for his role at the university, which will also include an appointment as a professor of sociology. “I am very excited to join the AU community,” he said. “I look forward to raising our research profile to enhance our scholarly impact and benefit the student experience. Working in Washington to leverage and build the role of AU in the city and world is exciting. I am inspired to work with President Burwell on the realization of AU’s new strategic plan.”
From 2015 to 2018, Myers served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Marquette University where he also held the academic appointment of professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Science. He spent three years in this leadership role at Marquette before returning to the faculty in November. Myers oversaw all aspects of academic affairs and had joint oversight for the university’s budget. He focused on strong faculty relations, built a model of faculty development and enhanced interdisciplinarity through cluster hiring. In addition, Myers accumulated a record of significant accomplishments in diversity and inclusion, which included a campus climate study and action plan; a new LGBTQ+ resource center and faculty/staff affinity groups; a Race and Ethnic Studies program; and new hiring protocols for faculty and staff searches.
Prior to Marquette, Myers was at the University of Notre Dameas vice president and associate provost for faculty affairs. At Notre Dame, Myers designed and managed a $13.5 million competitive cross-disciplinary cluster hiring process, which launched new faculty groupings and led to increased research output and funding. During his 17 years (1998-2015) at Notre Dame, he also served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters, director of faculty research and development for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, founding director for Center for the Study of Social Movements and Social Change, and professor of sociology.
Search committee co-chairs, Jeffrey Rutenbeck, dean of the School of Communication, and Christine Chin, dean of the School of International Service shared their view of the national search and its outcome.“It became clear in the early stages of the search that there was tremendous interest in this position. Dr. Myers stood out for his experience with enterprise-wide strategic planning and his commitment to academic rigor, high-impact scholarship, and inclusive excellence.”
Myers earned a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He also holds a master’s in higher education and student affairs and a bachelor’s inpolitical science from Ohio State University. He has written five books and co-authored or authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles. He was a member of the Sociology Advisory Panel of the National Science Foundation from 2007-2011. Additionally, Dr. Myers has been a referee for almost 40 journals and book publishers, including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Sociology, Gender and Society, Journal of Peace Research, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Rural Sociology, Science, Sociological Quarterly, and Rutgers University Press.
About American University
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