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May 1, 2003

Bradford names president

Livingston Alexander, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Kean University in Union, N.J., has been named president of Pitt-Bradford, effective Aug. 1.

“I’ve been in higher education for over 26 years in a number of capacities, including faculty and administrative, and I have taught both undergraduates and graduate students,” Alexander told the University Times last week. “During this time, I’ve developed a passion for undergraduate education, because I believe very strongly in the value of sound undergraduate programs as a pathway to success in American society.”

Noting Bradford’s commitment to undergraduate education excellence, Alexander said he was thrilled to be chosen as the campus’s new president. He will succeed interim president William Shields.

“I could sense with the faculty during the interview process that there is a deep commitment to really make a difference in the lives of students. There is an atmosphere to keep students engaged,” he said.

The small liberal arts college’s status as part of the Pitt university system enhances UPB’s recruiting efforts in its primary areas of northwest and north central Pennsylvania and south central New York, he said.

At Kean, Alexander oversaw the development of several new academic programs and a distance education program. During the past three years there, he focused on implementing an innovative general education program. “In our world today, it is important that, while students might forget what they learn in their majors, they retain the critically important skills learned in general education courses,” he maintained. “At Kean, we found that for students who are in need of some remediation, we could link those efforts with strategically designed college-level course sin, say, English composition and college-level algebra,” enabling students to develop the skills and acquire the knowledge associated with a broad liberal arts and sciences education.

He said that approach, which includes course-embedded assessments to monitor achievement of cognitive and other skills, coupled with incorporating more technical components into courses, increased retention rates and aided recruitment at Kean.

Whether a similar program will work at Bradford, Alexander is not sure. “I’m not going there with presumptions,” he said. “We’ll be focused on the future, building on the strengths, highlighting the needs and defining the kinds of collaborations that will enhance our programs.”

Similarly, he has a wait-and-see attitude about the effect of recent budget cuts in the current fiscal year and potential future ones, he said. “We’ve had budget cuts here at Kean, too. I was surprised by how close-knit the [Bradford campus] faculty and staff appear to be in terms of general consensus about what needs to be done, particularly what the needs of students are,” Alexander said. “I was also struck by the openness of the institution to talk about the shortcomings and how to move ahead. I’ll be going there first to listen, learn and be responsive to the Bradford institutional community and how it links up with the University system’s overall direction.”

In addition to being named UPB president, Alexander was awarded a tenured position in psychology. “I love teaching, but for now I’m going to focus on leading the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, particularly on enrollment growth and the generation of revenue,” he said.

Prior to becoming Kean’s provost in 1998, Alexander served from 1994 to 1998 as vice president for Academic Affairs at Troy State University in Montgomery, Ala.

Before joining Troy State, he was associate vice president for Academic Affairs at Western Kentucky University from 1990 to 1994, following more than a decade as a psychology professor at Western Kentucky. He also held a faculty position at Georgia Southern University from 1988 to 1990.

Alexander has led seminars on personal and interpersonal dimensions of leadership and diversity for the American Council on Education’s fellowship program and has served as chair of the New Jersey Council of Chief Academic Officers and as an elected member of the American Association of University Administrators Board of Directors.

Alexander also is an elected member of the Board of Governors of The Renaissance Group, a national association of presidents, provosts and deans focused on improving teacher education, and is chair of the College Bound Advisory Council for the State of New Jersey, overseeing precollege programs for students from underrepresented groups.

Alexander earned an A.B. in philosophy from St. Joseph Seminary College in Washington, D.C., and an M.Ed. in curriculum and an Ed.D. in educational psychology from the University of Houston.

In announcing the appointment, Pitt Provost James V. Maher said, “Livingston Alexander’s experience in senior academic administration, fund-raising and community relations makes him the ideal president for our Bradford campus. Both Chancellor [Mark] Nordenberg and I respect Dr. Alexander’s strong reputation for high integrity and his impressive strength in developing consensus while focusing on institutional priorities.”

Andrew Blair, chair of the Bradford president’s search committee and vice provost for Faculty Affairs, told the University Times that Pitt engaged R.H. Perry and Associates search council to higher education to help in the national search.

He said the search committee whittled down from eight candidates identified by Perry to “a few we felt really good about, which we presented to the provost in unranked order.”

Pitt regional campus presidents report to the provost.

“We were looking for a president who would combine the talents of a CEO with faculty experience, and especially one who is committed to undergraduate education,” Blair said.

—Peter Hart


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