Ohio State provost to step down
Leaving role in June, alumnus also served as an OSU dean
Ohio State Provost Bruce A. Mcpheron will step down next year, university President Kristina M. Johnson announced Tuesday.
Mcpheron, an executive vice president and part of the president’s cabinet, will remain in his role through June 30, 2021. At that point, he will have served as provost for five years.
The university will launch a national search for a replacement in the coming weeks, Johnson said in a memo to the university community Tuesday morning.
“I have been privileged to serve as the university’s provost for the past five years, but the time has come to prepare for a transition,” Mcpheron wrote in a message to his colleagues, obtained by The Dispatch. “So, with President Johnson’s support, I am writing today to share that I will be stepping down from this role at the end of June 2021.”
Neither message offered more specifics for why Mcpheron is stepping down, but Mcpherson said he was announcing the transition now “so that the university can prepare for an orderly process to identify and seat the next provost.”
Mcpheron officially became provost in June 2016 after serving as interim provost for six months before that. He joined Ohio State in 2012, and before becoming provost, he served as vice
president for agricultural administration and dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
As provost, Mcpheron is Ohio State’s chief academic officer, overseeing the educational mission of the university. Specifically, he oversees 15 colleges, Ohio State’s five campuses, 7,000 faculty members and academic programs for more than 65,000 students.
Mcpheron is paid a salary of nearly $574,000 annually, according to Ohio State’s most recent salary figures.
In her memo, Johnson said Mcpheron “has provided exceptional service to his alma mater in a number of roles.”
Mcpheron has led a number of teaching and learning initiatives, including Ohio State’s Digital Flagship partnership with Apple and a teaching support program for faculty. The provost and his team have also worked to build a university infrastructure to support convergent research across disciplines, Johnson’s memo said.
“Together over the past five years, we have generated tremendous accomplishments in pursuit of our land-grant mission,” Mcpheron wrote to his colleagues, adding that Ohio State’s “momentum is strong and building.”
An entomologist by training, Mcpheron has often referred to himself as a “bug guy.” He is also an Ohio State alumnus.
Some in the Ohio State community took to Twitter, where Mcpheron is very active, to praise his work and leadership Tuesday.
Melissa Shivers, vice president for student life, thanked Mcpheron and called him “a wonderful partner and colleague.” Others called him a great supporter of students, faculty and staff and said he “put the ‘pro’ in provost.”
“Thank you for your support over the past five years and during the coming months,” Mcpheron wrote to his colleagues. “I have always been a Buckeye, and I am proud to be part of this community.”
After stepping down as provost, Mcpheron will continue to serve as a professor of entomology in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“He is an exemplary Buckeye, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his service to our students, faculty, staff and community partners,” Johnson said. jsmola@dispatch.com @jennsmola