Potter College News

Fellow Faculty and Staff:

I’m pleased to announce that Dr. Robert “Bud” U. Fischer, Dean, College of Basic and Applied Sciences at Middle Tennessee State University, has accepted our offer to become WKU’s next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective July 5, 2021.

Prior to joining MTSU in 2012, Dr. Fischer was chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; associate chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Eastern Illinois University and a faculty member at the University of South Carolina Aiken and State University College at Buffalo. Dr. Fischer has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in environmental biology from State University College at Buffalo and a bachelor’s degree in ecology from State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York.

Dr. Fischer’s background with applied learning, improvements in retention and graduation rates and familiarity with growing sponsored research provide him with a wealth of knowledge and experience that will advance our institutional mission and support our continued work to implement WKU’s strategic plan.

Thank you to all those who served on the search committee, led by Dean Tania Basta and EVP Susan Howarth. I appreciate their thoroughness throughout the process and their commitment to selecting the right candidate to lead academic affairs. I also am thankful to all who participated in the campus forums, both in-person and virtually, and provided the search committee with rich feedback.

Finally, I would like to thank Acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Cheryl Stevens for her willingness to serve in this crucial capacity during the last two years and for her tremendous leadership and service to the university since January 2012. She will step down from this role June 30, and I wish her all the best as she nears her well-deserved retirement this fall.

Please help me welcome Dr. Fischer and his wife, Anita, to the WKU Family and to the Bowling Green community this summer. Go Tops!

Best,

Timothy C. Caboni