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Brian Foster
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New
Provost Appointed
By Christian Basi
Brian Foster has been appointed provost
at MU, Chancellor Brady Deaton announced June 3. Foster will begin
this August.
“We are very pleased that Brian has agreed
to join us and bring his proven leadership to enhance the Mizzou
mission,” Deaton said. “His passion, experience
and expertise make him the ideal person for this position. He
is bringing extensive leadership and visionary skills to MU at
a critical juncture in our own path towards excellence.”
“I am very excited about the contributions
and commitment to academic excellence he will make to MU,” Deaton said. “We are confident that his inclusive administrative
skills and energetic approach will improve the quality of education
we offer to all of our students.”
Foster has been provost and executive vice
president for academic affairs at the University
of New Mexico since 2000. He received his bachelor's degree
in history from Northern
Illinois University in 1967, and his master's and doctorate
degrees in anthropology from the University
of Michigan in 1968 and 1972, respectively.
“This is a great opportunity, and I'm
very excited about coming to the University,” Foster said.
“MU is an enormous resource for the state of Missouri, including
economic development, outstanding undergraduate education, scientific
research, extension work across the state and professional education.
It is our job to serve the citizens of the state, educate our
students and create a better quality of life.”
At the University of New Mexico, Foster led
the strategic planning process and has guided that campus through
a period of significant growth and achievement, has provided leadership
for information technology on campus and worked on projects for
the freshman experience, academic advising and retention efforts.
Contacted recently at his home in Albuguerque,
Foster acknoledged that he will have a steep learning curve to
familiarize himself with the specific academic issues that MU
faces.
At an April open forum on campus, Foster cited
a number of national issues that confront higher education, including
accessibility, faculty retention and funding concerns. “We
are not free agents in this new world of higher education,” he told the forum, and he stressed a need for universities to
work with other educational institutions, including elementary
and secondary schools.
As a first-generation college student, Foster
said he understands how important a more seamless transition to
higher education can be for students whose families don't have
a tradition of attending college. “I am completely committed
to providing access,” he said, “and that's a complicated
issue in today's world.”
Foster took a somewhat nontraditional approach
to college himself, enrolling at Northern Illinois in his 20s
after a stint as a singer — mostly show tune, he says —
at Chicago area supper clubs and conventions. He spent 18 months
in Thailand in the early 1970s doing fieldwork for his doctoral
research on the relationship between ethnicity, economy and society
among the Mon people of northern Thailand.
Foster describes himself as a “true believer” in higher education. “What makes a great university? The
critical aspect of a great university is the amount of intellectual
excitement there is,” he says. “People have to be passionate,
engaged and totally committeed to ideas.”
Foster's academic work, including both teaching
and research, has been supported by several national grants, including
two from the National Science Foundation.
He is a member of the American
Anthropological Association, the Association
for Asian Studies, the American Association
for Higher Education and Phi
Beta Kappa. Before his current employment, Foster was a member
of the anthropology faculty at the State
University of New York-Binghamton; he was graduate dean at
Arizona State University, dean
of arts and sciences at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a professor of anthropology at both
institutions.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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