The search for the University of Missouri’s next Provost continues to progress, and one candidate for the job spoke to students and faculty at the MU Student Center Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Michele Wheatly spoke to a crowd of about 50 people in the St. Louis and Kansas City meeting rooms in the Student Center. She spoke for an hour answering questions and talking about her background.
Wheatly, who was born in London, has spent 30 years in higher education. She spent ten years at the University of Florida teaching Zoology, and reached the position of full professor in that span. She then went to Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio, where she was the Chair of Biological Sciences department for eight years and the Dean of the College of Science and Math for another seven years. In 2009, she accepted the position of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at West Virginia University. Wheatly said she believes she would be a good match for MU and she would transition well into the job because of her previous experience as a Provost.
One person asked Wheatly about her stance on the humanities because of her background, and new chancellor R. Bowen Loftin’s background in the STEM field. Although her main education is in biological sciences, Wheatly said she has studied many languages and other humanities in her life. She said schools should not focus on being the best in certain areas of education.
“When you look at leading universities around the world, they are world class across the board, and that means in all disciplines,” Wheatly said. “We do have to have an appreciation for a way to recognize the talents and accomplishments of these other areas of endeavor.”
Xiaozhen Wang, an MU graduate student studying Public Affairs, asked Wheatly how she would expand international collaboration at MU. Wheatly said the best international collaboration is done in a coordinated effort when you understand where you are sending students and there is a greater purpose on both ends.
“The first thing that got my attention was her care about student growth and her ambition for where the university might be going, and her background in scientific research in combination with being a Provost.” Wang said. “Mizzou is a very diverse university that has all kinds of disciplines. I would think that her background would add to that because she would have more understanding of each of the different fields.”
This was Wheatly’s first visit to Columbia. MU’s provost search committee continues to work with search firm Issacson and Miller in search for a new provost. The search committee announced Friday that Dr. John Wiencek, another candidate for Provost, will speak on Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 8:30-10 a.m. in Stotler 3 of Memorial Union North.
