UMBC PROVOST AND VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS SEARCH

December 20, 2007

A Message from UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Elliot Hirshman as UMBC’s next Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective July 1, 2008.  He will hold the rank of full professor in our Department of Psychology.

Dr. Hirshman’s appointment concludes a national search that began this past August.  I am extremely grateful to the search committee, chaired by Professor Michael Summers, and the UMBC community for providing me with excellent advice.  The search committee did a superb job in identifying several outstanding candidates and was assisted by Greenwood and Associates, Inc. 

Elliot Hirshman comes to UMBC after serving as Chief Research Officer at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.  Previously, he chaired the Departments of Psychology at George Washington (2002-05) and the University of Colorado at Denver (2000-02).  He began his academic career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1989-2000), where he served as Assistant, Associate, and ultimately full Professor of Psychology. 

While at Chapel Hill, he was recognized by the late Michael Hooker, then Chancellor there (and former UMBC President), who nominated him for the American Council on Education Fellows Program, in which he participated as a Fellow in the Provost’s Office at Arizona State University.  Subsequently, he served as Special Assistant to the Provost at Chapel Hill.  He has chaired a number of major campus groups, including for example the University Task Force on Student Evaluation of Teaching at Chapel Hill and the Advisory Council on Research at George Washington.

Dr. Hirshman has a strong interdisciplinary background, having earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude in economics and mathematics from Yale and his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at UCLA.  His research and teaching focus on the psychopharmacology of human cognition, exploring cognitive and quantitative models of memory, attention and visual perception, and the influence of individual drugs on specific cognitive processes.  His interdisciplinary work involves collaboration among psychologists, medical doctors, and statisticians.  He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and has served as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory & Cognition (2000-2006) and Psychonomic Bulletin & Review (1998-2000). 

As Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Elliot will be responsible for the delivery of the academic program, including instruction, research, and academic support services.  He will provide leadership as we continue to build excellence among the faculty, student body, and academic affairs staff.  He also will oversee the campus planning process, working with the other Vice Presidents and the Planning Leadership Team to coordinate planning and budgeting for the campus.       

UMBC is very fortunate to have someone of Elliot Hirshman’s experience and talent joining the University community.  Please join me in welcoming him to campus.

Also, please join me in again thanking Provost Art Johnson for his many contributions over the past decade.  Art will continue to serve as Provost until June 30, 2008, and during the coming semester, Elliot will be working with him to ensure a smooth transition.