Provost Terry Martin named Jim Gigantino senior vice provost for academic affairs, effective July 1. Gigantino has served as vice provost for academic affairs since August 2022.

"Over the past year and half, Jim has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the Division of Academic Affairs," Martin said. "He has strengthened our relationship with our deans, associate deans and other leaders across the university. Jim's responsibilities have also grown significantly since he joined the Provost's Office. This promotion to senior vice provost is well deserved and reflective of his expanded duties."

As senior vice provost for academic affairs, Gigantino will oversee the Office of Student Success and lead collaborative efforts with the Division of Student Affairs and academic units on campus to further the university's student success initiatives. He will continue to manage the university's academic programs, academic integrity, institutional accreditation and academic policies, and will continue to work with units across campus to ensure academic excellence.

"I'm honored to serve in this role and look forward to continuing to collaborate with colleagues across campus to further our land-grant mission and shared goals of student success and research excellence," Gigantino said.

About Gigantino

Prior to being appointed as vice provost for academic affairs, Gigantino served as the associate dean of the Graduate School and International Education, chair of the Department of History and associate chair and director of graduate studies for the Department of History. He is also a peer reviewer with the Higher Learning Commission, a position he has held since 2018. 

Gigantino has been a faculty member since 2010 and was promoted to professor of history in 2019. He has also held leadership positions involving faculty governance throughout campus, including the Graduate Council and Faculty Senate.

As a faculty member, Gigantino received several awards for outstanding teaching and mentoring at the U of A, including a Faculty Gold Medal in 2021; the Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology Faculty Award in 2019; the Outstanding Advisor Award in 2018; the Graduate Student Congress Faculty Ally Award in 2017; the Master Teacher Award in 2015; and the Nolan Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in 2014. He was inducted into the U of A Teaching Academy in 2016.

An early American historian, Gigantino's scholarship focuses on the history of slavery and the role of government in the American Revolution. He is the author of William Livingston's American Revolution, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018, and The Ragged Road to Abolition: Slavery and Freedom in New Jersey, 1775-1865, also published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2014.  He is the editor of Slavery and Secession in Arkansas: A Documentary History, published by the University of Arkansas Press in 2015, and The American Revolution in New Jersey: Where the Battlefront Meets the Home Front, published by Rutgers University Press in 2015.

Gigantino received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Georgia.

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