Miami University has announced four finalists for Provost

After a months-long search, Miami University has announced four finalists for Provost. Finalists include Elizabeth Mullenix, Lynn Okagaki, Karin Ruhlandt and Jeanette Altarriba. 

Currently, the position is being filled in the interim by Mullenix after former provost Jason Osborne resigned in April. Osborne’s resignation came just days before a committee tasked with evaluating his performance was scheduled to turn in its final report. He is currently serving as special assistant to the president before moving to a faculty position in 2023.

Each finalist will hold open forums for the Miami community to ask questions. Forums will be held at Miami’s Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown campuses, and attendees are asked to provide feedback on each candidate afterward. Full information on the candidates can also be found on the university’s provost search page.

Elizabeth Mullenix 

Mullenix has been serving as interim provost since July. 

Before her time in the academic affairs office, Mullenix worked as a professor and chair in Miami’s theatre department. In 2013, she was tapped to be the interim dean of the College of Creative Arts before assuming the role permanently in 2014. 

Before her time at Miami, Mullenix worked at Illinois State University (ISU). During her 11 years at ISU she served as the associate chair of the School of Theatre, director of the masters program in theatre, director of graduate studies and associate dean for the College of Fine Arts.

Mullenix received her bachelors in theatre and English from the University of Vermont and her Ph.D. in theatre studies from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

Open forums Wednesday, Nov. 16

9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., 319 Kreger Hall, Oxford campus

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 136-137 Johnston Hall, Middletown campus

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., Wilks Conference Center A, Hamilton campus

Lynn Okagaki

Okagaki currently serves as deputy provost of academic affairs at the University of Delaware (UD). Previous to being appointed that role in 2016, Okagaki spent five years as dean of the College of Education and Human Development at UD.

She has held positions at multiple universities including Purdue University and held appointments at Yale University, Cornell University and the University of Houston. Before UD, Okagaki worked for the U.S. Department of Education as the commissioner for education research in the Institute of Education Sciences. 

Okagaki received her bachelors in applied behavioral sciences from the University of California at Davis and her Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University.

Open forums Friday, Nov. 18

9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., 319 Kreger Hall, Oxford campus

10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., 136-137 Johnston Hall, Middletown campus

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., Wilks Seminar Room 3, Hamilton campus

Karin Ruhlandt 

Ruhlandt currently serves as a distinguished professor of chemistry at Syracuse University. She joined the university’s chemistry department in 1991 and became the chemistry department chair in 2009, when she also became a distinguished professor, the first woman in the science department to do so at Syracuse.

Ruhlandt was also the interim dean for Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2013 and became the official dean in 2014. Ruhlandt stepped down from the role at the end of June 2022. During her time as dean, she led a program called ADVANCE, which worked to increase the number of female students in STEM programs.

Ruhlandt has not always been at Syracuse though, nor has she only worked in America. She’s originally from Germany, where she studied chemistry at Philipps-Universitat-Marburg. In 2003, she was a visiting professor at Monash University, Australia, as well as University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2013, a Fulbright Fellowship allowed her to teach as a visiting professor at Technical University of Graz, Austria.

Some of Ruhlant’s awards include the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in 2012, an annual Syracuse award, and the National Science Foundation Career award, which recognizes professors that exemplify the teacher-scholar model and includes a five-year federal grant for research.

Open forums Wednesday, Nov. 30

9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., 319 Kreger Hall, Oxford campus

10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m., 136-137 Johnston Hall, Middletown campus

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., Wilks Seminar Room 3, Hamilton campus

Jeanette Altarriba

Altarriba is the current dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She joined the university in 1992 in the department of psychology. Her previous positions at the university include interim dean and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, chair of the departments of psychology and communications and vice provost and dean of undergraduate education.

Altarriba has served as a professor in both the departments of psychology and Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino studies. Altarriba’s research focuses on the psychology of language, psycholinguistics, bilingualism and cross-cultural psychology. She has also published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles.

Altarriba received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology from Florida International University and a doctorate in cognitive psychology at Vanderbilt University. She completed postdoctoral research training at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Open forums Friday, Dec. 2

12:45 p.m. – 1:15 p.m., 319 Kreger Hall, Oxford campus

2:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m., 136-137 Johnston Hall , Middletown campus

3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m., Wilks Conference Center, Hamilton campus