BALTIMORE - Political Science Professor Arthur Johnson has been appointed as UMBC's interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. A member of the UMBC community since 1980, Johnson most recently served as chair of the political science department before accepting the interim provost position, effective July 1, 1998.

Former Provost Jo Ann Argersinger left UMBC to become chancellor of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Argersinger, a 1974 UMBC alumna, joined the UMBC faculty in 1983 and was appointed as provost in 1994. The search for a permanent provost is expected to be complete by July 1, 1999.

As the university's chief academic officer, Johnson will be responsible for the development and implementation of UMBC's academic program, including curriculum, policy, space management and academic personnel policy and procedures. He will also oversee academic planning and coordinate related resource functions and will preside in the absence of President Freeman Hrabowski.

Before joining the UMBC faculty as an assistant professor of political science in 1980, Johnson served as assistant professor at Indiana University/Purdue University-Fort Wayne and Muskingum College in Ohio. He is the author of Minor League Baseball & Local Economic Development and has co-edited two other books. His current research focus is about federal government recruitment on college and university campuses and patterns of entry level hiring by the U.S. government. In connection with this research, he served in 1997-98 as a Faculty Associate in the Office of Policy Evaluation - U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. Johnson earned his Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975.

In addition to two terms as chair of the political science department (1991-94 and 1997-present), Johnson brings a variety of other leadership experiences to the position of interim provost. He served as chair of UMBC's Middle States Self-Study Steering Committee (1994-1996) which helped the university earn outstanding marks from the Middle States Association, a major accrediting body. Johnson was also chair of the Council of University System Faculty (1991-92) and since 1995 has been a member of the Maryland Council on Management & Productivity.