THE NEW SCHOOL NAMES JOSEPH WESTPHAL PROVOST

New York, NY — The New School has announced that Joseph Westphal, previously the vice president and director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, has been named Provost and Senior Vice President for Research at The New School.

“Joe Westphal’s dynamic professional background and demonstrated success as a leader in academia make him the perfect candidate to lead the next phase of the university’s evolution,” said Bob Kerrey, president of The New School. “He has held leadership positions in government that give him a unique insight into the power of civic engagement. As the chancellor of the University of Maine and the visionary behind The New School’s Environmental Studies program, Joe has brought his commitment to addressing cutting edge issues to academia by crossing traditional boundaries. I am proud to welcome Joe as the new provost and look forward to working with him on behalf of our students and our university’s future.”

As provost, Dr. Westphal is the chief academic officer of the university and the university’s senior academic policy official. He is responsible for the university’s academic planning, policy, and institutional research; supervises all of the university’s institutes and centers; oversees all undergraduate and graduate programs; and, in cooperation with the university’s executive vice president, ensures the budget and financial plan supporting the mission and priorities of the university. As senior vice president for research, Dr. Westphal oversees the university’s research efforts and works with the university’s Development Office to help identify funding opportunities and assist faculty with the development of research proposals.

As vice president and director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center, Dr. Westphal worked with the Office of the Provost to establish the two newest undergraduate programs—the BA and BS—in Environmental Studies at The New School. Dr. Westphal will continue to serve as a professor of Environmental Studies.

Prior to coming to The New School, Dr. Westphal was chancellor of the University of Maine System and tenured university system professor of political science. The Maine System is composed of seven universities and 10 community education centers with a total enrollment of more than 35,000 students and an annual budget of approximately $700 million. He spent 12 years on the faculty of Oklahoma State University where he also served as head of the department of political science.

Dr. Westphal also has a distinguished career in government serving in several administrations in such departments as Interior, EPA, and Defense where he was head of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, followed by a brief tenure as the secretary of the army. He spent more than 10 years working in the U.S. Congress on issues related to environment, trade, and the economy. While in Washington, Dr. Westphal was an adjunct professor of political science at Georgetown University. He has a BA from Adelphi University and a PhD in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

ABOUT THE NEW SCHOOL

Located in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village, The New School is a center of academic excellence where intellectual and artistic freedoms thrive. The more than 9,600 matriculated students and approximately 5,300 continuing education students come from around the world to participate in a wide range of undergraduate to doctoral programs in art and design, the social sciences, management and urban policy, the humanities and the performing arts. When The New School was founded in 1919, its mission was to create a place where global peace and justice were more than theoretical ideals. Today, The New School continues that mission, with programs that strive to foster engaged world citizenship. The eight schools that make up The New School are: The New School for General Studies, The New School for Social Research, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, Parsons The New School for Design, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, Mannes College The New School for Music, The New School for Drama, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu.

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