‘Excited about what he will do.’ University of Kentucky names its next provost.
The University of Kentucky has named its acting provost and dean of the College of Medicine as the next provost of the university.
Robert DiPaola, who has been the acting provost since last July, will become the provost at UK. DiPaola was one of four finalists for the position.
UK President Eli Capilouto praised DiPaola for his time as acting provost, saying his tenure was “marked by important progress on key institutional objectives and steady, focused and collaborative leadership.”
“I am excited about what he will do, along with the rest of our leadership team, deans and colleges, to continue our progress,” Capilouto said in an email announcing the appointment.
The provost position is one of the top administrators on campus, reporting to the president and working closely with students, faculty and staff at UK.
DiPaola was the dean of the College of Medicine at UK before becoming acting provost. He has a medical background, and has worked at UK for six years. He previously worked as the director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
He became acting provost after the previous Provost David Blackwell stepped down from the position to pursue other job opportunities.
At his open forum on campus, DiPaola said he did not originally intend to apply for the position. After serving as acting provost, however, his eyes were opened to the opportunities available at UK for the provost, and he decided to apply for the permanent provost position, he said.
As acting provost, DiPaola led the development of UK’s new strategic plan, and lead efforts around UK’s re-accreditation process from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Part of that process included developing a Quality Enhancement Plan, which targets areas for improvement at UK.
The plan includes a focus on collaboration in research and teaching.
DiPaola also started searches to fill several open leadership positions at UK, including deans and other administrative positions, Capilouto said in the announcement.
The three other finalists for the position, resulting from a national search, were:
- Robert Blouin, former provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Cynthia Young, founding dean of the College of Science at Clemson University
- Amy Dittmar, senior vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs at the University of Michigan.
“Leaders like Bob only reinforce my belief that this community is poised for even brighter days,” Capilouto said. “I am excited about the future of our university and the progress we can make together in advancing Kentucky.”
Some UK faculty members have concerns about the hiring of an internal candidate following a national search. Matthew Zook, university research professor, told the Herald-Leader he worries that the outcome of this search could deter candidates for other positions from applying to UK if they think the same thing could happen again.
Zook said he has concerns because faculty were not told that a fourth candidate, who was DiPaola, was being considered for the job until right before his open forum last week. When DiPaola became acting provost, he said he would only serve in the role until a new provost was named.
“This certainly raises questions in my mind about why/how this changed and the role of shared governance at UK,” Zook said in an email. “It is very irregular from other searches I have been part of. Also I worry about what this means for future searches.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 10:28 AM.