02/25/2016
Lowell Sun
By Amelia Pak-Harvey
LOWELL -- UMass Lowell has named University of Arkansas leader Michael Vayda as its new provost, ending a five-month, nationwide search to replace former provost Ahmed Abdelal.
Vayda was among four finalists for the position, after the national search firm Korn Ferry narrowed a pool of 300 candidates to 73 applicants who were later passed to the search committee.
That search committee, led by Vice Provost for Research Julie Chen and alumnus John Pulichino, interviewed 13 candidates. The four finalists visited campus this month.
Vayda currently serves as dean of the University of Arkansas Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences. His new position will have a starting salary of $290,000.
"He has a proven track record as a strong academic leader," said Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, who chose Vayda with faculty input. "He had been a dean for six years and that is very much a normal traditional path to a provost job, is to kind of excel in developing as a dean."
Vayda has a New England backgrounde. He served six years as the administrative associate dean at the University of Vermont, and earlier as associate director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station at the University of Maine.
He also has an extensive background in science, with a number of research grants and publications in various research journals.
In a statement, Vayda said he's honored to be joining Moloney's leadership team.
"The campus has made extraordinary advances in recent years," he said. "I am eager to work with the faculty to further advance UMass Lowell as an institution of opportunity for students entering a knowledge-based economy, a source of innovation with our private-sector partners and a catalyst for further economic and cultural enhancement in the commonwealth."
Vayda holds a doctorate in molecular biology from Princeton University -- a draw for a school that stresses science and technology development.
"That's a great strength in the life sciences, which is of course a key area that we're hoping to grow our research in as UMass Lowell," Moloney said.
Once settled as the new chief academic officer, Vayda will help with the search for the next dean of the Manning School of Business, Moloney said.
He'll also work with a number of new programs the college plans to start.
"We just have a lot of new programs that we're launching in biomedical engineering and public health," Moloney said.
After Abdelal left the school on medical leave last year, former Vice Provost for Graduate Education Don Pierson served as acting provost.