Baltimore, MD--UMBC Provost Jo Ann E. Argersinger has been named the new chancellor of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale effective July 1,1998. Dr. Argersinger, who originally joined the UMBC faculty in 1983, became provost in 1994.

"This is a very exciting opportunity and I am extremely proud of Provost Argersinger," says UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. "She is a talented UMBC alumna and longtime faculty member who has made many valuable contributions to the growth and development of UMBC as an honors university. I know that she will make significant achievements at Southern Illinois University, and the UMBC community joins me in wishing her continued success."

Dr. Argersinger's dedicated efforts helped UMBC become an institution that, at just 32 years old, is quickly becoming one of the best public universities of its size in the nation. Most recently, she was instrumental in helping UMBC achieve acceptance into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most prestigious scholarly honor society. She has also worked to promote UMBC's research mission across the disciplines and has played a leading role in the K-16 initiative which aims to reform teacher education by making the liberal arts more central to teacher training. As provost, she instituted the Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards to sponsor promising students, Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day to showcase their efforts, and Provost Fellows to support faculty scholarship.

Argersinger graduated from UMBC in 1974 with a B.A. in history and earned her Masters and Ph.D degrees in history from the George Washington University in 1976 and 1980, respectively. A scholar of 20th-century U.S. and labor history, and a recipient of Rockefeller and NEH fellowships, Dr. Argersinger has continued to teach courses at UMBC on labor history and the Cold War. She also served as associate vice president for academic affairs and interim dean of arts and sciences.

Note: Southern Illinois University Media Contact is Jack Dyer, 618.536.3331 or jdyer@siu.edu.