Provost finalists announced

Grand Valley State University President Mark A. Murray has invited three candidates for Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of Grand Valley State University to visit campus for final interviews. The finalists were chosen by the President from a group of semi-finalists forwarded to him by the Provost Search Committee. The finalists are:

Dr. Gayle R. Davis is associate vice president for academic affairs and research at Wichita State University in Kansas. She holds a BA degree in French from Muskingum College, an MA degree in Art History and a PhD in American Studies, both from Michigan State University. She began her academic career in 1971 as an instructor at Lansing Community College, where she was a faculty member for 10 years. In 1982 she joined the faculty of Wichita State in the Department of Women's Studies and still holds faculty rank in that department. She became an associate vice president at WSU in 1994.


Dr. Barbara B. Dixon is provost and vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York College at Geneseo, a position she has held since 1997. She holds the BM and MM degrees in piano from Michigan State University and the DMA degree in piano performance, literature and pedagogy from the University of Colorado. She was a faculty member at Central Michigan University from 1971-89 in the Department of Music. From 1989-95 she was associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CMU and was Interim Dean from 1995-97.


Dr. Walter Harris, Jr., is provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. He holds the BS degree from Knoxville College, and the MM and PhD degrees from Michigan State University. From 1969-80 he was choral director of Knoxville College. From 1980-2000 he was on the faculty of the Music Department at Arizona State University, Tempe. From 1992-2000 he was Vice Provost at ASU. In 2000 he was appointed provost of NCCU.

The finalists are being invited to visit GVSU during the first week of April. Dates and details of the visits are available here .