Univ. of Vt. veteran to become URI’s new provost

PBN Staff

12/03/2007

KINGSTON – Donald H. DeHayes, dean of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, has been named to take over as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Rhode Island no later than April 7.
He succeeds M. Beverly Swan, who has served in the position for 17 years. Swan, who had asked to return to the faculty, will become URI’s Justin Smith Morrill University Professor.
As provost, DeHayes will be URI’s chief academic officer. He will advise the president on policies and operations; chair the URI Council of Deans; serve on the President’s Team, the Faculty Senate and the Joint Strategic Planning Committee; oversee the university’s special centers and partnerships; and set goals for all URI educational programs.
“The provost is responsible for the vitality of the University’s academic life and the intellectual well-being of our students, staff and faculty,” URI President Robert L. Carothers said in a statement today. “I know that Dr. DeHayes will serve that role well and provide outstanding leadership to our innovative community of scholars. I look forward to receiving his guidance and insight as we work together to grow the university.”
In addition to his administrative roles, DeHayes also will serve as a tenured professor of natural resources science in the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences.
“I’m pleased to become part of the URI academic community,” DeHayes said in a statement today. “It very quickly became clear to me that URI is an institution seeking to distinguish itself by giving its absolute best to do work that really matters in the world, and takes seriously its responsibility to educate a new generation of society leaders equipped with the competence and confidence to address the challenges of the world.”
He comes to URI after a 30-year career at the University of Vermont, where he was hired straight out of graduate school as an assistant professor, and taught classes in forest biology, natural resource ecology and conservation biology while researching the genetics and physiology of forest ecosystems. Promoted to full professor in 1989, he also had served as graduate program coordinator, associate dean and interim dean before being appointed dean in 2000.
DeHayes’ achievements as dean of the Rubenstein School have included establishing a new curriculum; building an interdisciplinary research program that has yielded an average of $350,000 in grants per faculty member per year; and raising about $32 million in funds for the school through creative partnerships with private individuals and foundations.
He also has championed cultural and ethnic diversity, establishing a Multicultural Scholars program, incorporating multicultural perspectives in the curriculum and developing and teaching “Race and Culture in Natural Resources.”
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., DeHayes is an Earth and space science graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned his master’s degree and doctorate in forest genetics at Michigan State University. DeHayes was recognized by the University of Vermont in 1991 for teaching excellence and was named a University Scholar in 2001, in recognition of sustained excellence in research and scholarship. The recipient of $13.5 million in grant funds over the course of his career, he has published 100 articles and book chapters.
He recently completed a three-year term as president of the National Association of University Forest Resources Programs.
In accepting the URI position, he emphasized that “serving in a leadership role in an institution begins by believing in what it stands for.
“For me, URI stands out for its strong and combined commitment to excellence in education and research, accessibility to Rhode Islanders, and enhancement of the vitality of the state for all of its citizens,” DeHayes said. “These values resonate strongly with my own.”

Additional information, including other news from the University of Rhode Island, is available at www.uri.edu/news/.

PBN Branded Content