March 2013

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Deirdre Mageean has been appointed provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Cleveland State University.

In this key leadership role, Dr. Mageean will serve as CSU's chief academic officer and also handle the duties of chief operating officer. Following an extensive national search to fill the position that yielded more than 60 qualified applicants, Dr. Mageean was recommended by a search committee that included CSU senior leaders as well as faculty and student representatives. I thank Dr. Byron White and Dr. Rachel Carnell, who chaired the search committee, and all of the members of the committee who devoted countless hours to the process.

For the past seven years, Dr. Mageean served as vice chancellor for research and graduate studies at East Carolina University, the third-largest campus in the University of North Carolina system. In this position, she oversaw all issues related to research, graduate education, academic engagement and economic development. In this position, Dr. Mageean was one of three members of the university's Leadership Council and was involved in all major academic decisions. Several years ago the president of ECU asked her to lead the university's current strategic planning process. Under her leadership, external research funding increased 40 percent.

Prior to her tenure at East Carolina, Dr. Mageean was associate vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Maine, where she previously was director of the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy. She also taught in the departments of resource economics and policy and public administration.

A native of Ireland, Dr. Mageean holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and philosophy from Queens University of Belfast, a master's degree in sociology from the University of York in England and a doctorate in geography from The Open University in England. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Economic Development Administration, her research has focused on historical patterns of migration, population-environment interactions and the policy implications of demographic change.

I invite you to view Dr. Mageean's complete CV here: http://www.csuohio.edu/offices/provost/pdf/Dr_Deirdre_Mageean_Council_of_Graduate_Schools_CV.pdf

Dr. Mageean's appointment at CSU is effective July 1, 2013. Dr. Mageean will be visiting the University during April, May and June as she prepares to assume the responsibilities of provost. In the meantime, please join me in welcoming her to CSU's leadership team. I am confident that Dr. Mageean not only will elevate CSU to new levels of academic success, but will strengthen our engagement with the community and beyond as we continue to build a best-in-class urban university.