Ann Austin, a recently named University Distinguished Professor, has been appointed as interim associate provost for faculty and academic staff development at Michigan State University, effective August 1.
Austin will provide leadership for the Academic Advancement Network and steps into the new role as Juli Wade, who has served in the position since 2017, has accepted a new job as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut.
Austin currently serves as a professor of higher, adult and lifelong education. She also serves as associate dean for research in the College of Education, where she provides ongoing support, mentoring and advising for faculty on research and career-related issues. In addition, she is the assistant provost for faculty development--academic career paths, where she designs and implements approaches to support the professional growth of faculty members in various academic appointment types and across the stages of the career.
Austin arrived at MSU in 1991 as an assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Administration. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Michigan, M.S. from Syracuse University and B.A. from Bates College.
Her research interests, within both U.S. and international contexts, involve academic work, careers and professional development; organizational change in higher education; strategies to support women in STEM education and to create more inclusive academic workplaces; doctoral education; and teaching and learning in higher education.
“We are so fortunate to have a national leader in academic career development as a colleague, and now as interim director of the Academic Advancement Network,” said Provost June Pierce Youatt. “I am excited for her contribution as an associate provost and her leadership as we continue to develop MSU’s unique organizational approach to professional and leadership development for faculty and academic staff.”
A national search for the next associate provost for faculty and academic staff development is underway.