Dr. Chaden Djalali was selected as the next executive vice president and provost of Ohio University on Monday.
Djalali will start at OU on Aug. 1. He aims to strengthen OU’s reputation by “look(ing) at the challenges against us as opportunities,” he said in a previous Post report.
Djalali has a reputation for working with faculty in a collaborative manner and successfully engaging with external partners, while personally maintaining an impressive record of research, Nellis wrote in a news release.
“Ohio University is poised to become a national leader in student success by building on its impressive record of experiential learning, undergraduate and graduate research, and community and regional engagement,” Djalali said in a news release. “Together we will strengthen OU’s reputation as a quality research institution that transforms our students by providing top-tier educational experiences.”
During his March visit, Djalali told faculty, staff and students that he values “total transparency” in administrative discussions about the budget, wants to maintain public access during financial struggle and promote shared governance.
“In my conversations with him, it has become clear that Chaden possesses the critical balance of experience as a dedicated scholar and teacher and as a visionary leader of a comprehensive and diverse college at a large public university,” Nellis said.
He is currently the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa and is a professor of physics and astronomy.
“Dr. Djalali has a distinguished record as scholar, teacher, and academic leader,” Nellis said in a news release.
Djalali has served as a distinguished professor and chair of the physics department at University of South Carolina, and he was a visiting physicist at Michigan State University and a tenured research scientist at The Orsay Nuclear Physics Institute in Paris.
Djalali was selected through a search process that went on during the 2017-18 academic year.
The co-chairs of that search committee were Dr. Elizabeth Sayrs, the dean of University College and interim executive vice president and provost, and Dr. Susan Williams, a professor of anatomy in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
