Provost Candidate Jim Coleman to Speak to Campus

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Jim Coleman, provost candidate

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – James Scott “Jim” Coleman, one of three candidates for the position of provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas, will visit campus and make a public presentation at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

Coleman will speak about his “National Perspective on Campus Priorities,” and a question-and-answer session will follow.

The campus community and public are invited.

The public forum will be videotaped and posted online on Friday afternoon, Oct. 21. Members of the campus community are invited to provide feedback on the candidates through through noon, Friday, Oct. 28.

Coleman became the provost and vice president for academic affairs and professor of biology at Northern Arizona University in August 2015. He is a highly regarded ecological and evolutionary biologist and academic administrator with a broad background that crosses multiple disciplines.

As the chief academic officer of the Northern Arizona, who will be stepping down on Dec. 31, 2016, Coleman was either directly responsible or had a role in academic planning; deployment of instructional resources; curricular development, review and assessment; institutional accreditation; recruitment and retention of faculty and staff; student academic success and retention; allocation and planning of academic space; and management of the academic affairs budget. He works closely with the Northern Arizona University Faculty Senate and the Northern Arizona University Chairs Council to ensure effective shared governance. 

Before coming to Northern Arizona he served as the dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also was a biology professor. He served as vice provost for research and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice University, vice chancellor for research and biology professor at the University of Missouri and vice president for research and business development and professor of earth and ecosystem sciences at the Desert Research Institute. He served as program officer for ecological and evolutionary physiology at the National Science Foundation and began his career as assistant and then associate professor of biology at Syracuse University. Coleman also worked with the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority to chair the external advisory board to two of the state of Arkansas' multi-million dollar NSF EPSCoR research infrastructure improvement grants, ASSET I and ASSET II.

Coleman earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University working in plant ecology as well as a Master of Philosophy and Master of Science. He received his Bachelor of Science in forestry from the University of Maine. He conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford and Harvard universities.

The other two candidates for U of A provost are Mike Sherman, vice president for innovation and economic development/ chief operating officer research foundation and professor at the University of Akron and Sheryl Tucker, associate provost for academic affairs, dean of the graduate college and professor of chemistry, Oklahoma State University.

Sherman spoke to the campus on Oct. 13.

Tucker will speak at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.