Coward named provost
After an extensive search, President Stan Albrecht announced Tuesday that Raymond Thomas Coward will be Utah State University’s new provost and executive vice president.
The 59-year-old, who is currently the dean of the College of Health and Human Development at Pennsylvania State University, will commence his responsibilities in Logan on Jan. 2.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity, but humbled and honored at the same time,” Coward said. “Utah State University is a great institution with lots of promise and opportunities”
As provost, Coward will oversee the operation of USU’s seven colleges and 41 departments as well as hold the title of chief representative of faculty and students involved in the university’s academic programs, he said.
“Utah State University is absolutely delighted that Dr. Raymond Coward has agreed to join us,” Albrecht said. “Ray brings a wonderful combination of experience and accomplishment that will be particularly helpful as our institution deals with the opportunities ahead.”
The search for the new provost began when Albrecht became the university’s 15th president in February.
A 14-member provost search committee narrowed a pool of 30 applications down to three candidates for the position: Coward, Belinda R. McCarthy from the University of Central Florida and Ovid A. Plumb from the University of Wyoming.
“It was a big task and there were a lot of qualified individuals,” Spencer Watts, Academic Senate vice president and member of the search committee, said.
Each candidate then visited USU’s campus throughout September to interview with the search committee and gave a public presentation.
“We had some very strong candidates, but Dr. Coward in particular had very strong experience with land-grant institutions and has been very involved in research,” Scott Hinton, chairman of the search committee and dean of the College of Engineering, said. “For us to bring in someone with this kind of experience, we are very very fortunate.”
Coward has been professor and dean of the School of Health and Human Services at the University of New Hampshire. He also served as director of the Institute for Gerontology at the University of Florida and as a faculty member in the university’s College of Medicine.
“I know the land-grant system,” Coward said. “I’m excited about joining Utah State University; I think of it as a place on the move.”
After serving as the interim provost, Noelle Cockett will resume her responsibilities as dean of the College of Agriculture in January.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu