Historical List of all Provosts: Norman Campus

The Senior Vice President and Provost, Norman Campus, is responsible to the President of the University. The chief academic and administrative officer of the Norman Campus, the Senior Vice President and Provost provides academic and administrative leadership for that campus for instruction, research and creative activity, continuing education, and public service. The Senior Vice President and Provost is responsible for intellectual standards; institutional planning and budgeting; and the recruitment, retention, and development of faculty and students. Other responsibilities include program development and review; enrollment management; academic policies and procedures; and personnel actions involving faculty, students, and academic support staff.
 
Among those who report to the Senior Vice President and Provost, Norman Campus, are the Deans of the colleges on the Norman Campus and the Dean of University Libraries; the Vice Provost for Instruction; the Vice Provost for Continuing Education; the Associate Provost; the Registrar; and the Directors of the Carl Albert Center, Institutional Research, Instructional Development, International Programs, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Fred Jones Jr., Museum of Art, Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program, University Press, University Services at Tulsa, World Literature Today, and the Writing Center.
 
The deans and certain other officials meet periodically as the Norman Campus Deans Council to discuss matters of mutual interest and make recommendations as appropriate. The Senior Vice President and Provost serves as Chair of the Deans Council.  The Provost also meets regularly with the Provost’s Advisory Councils for Academic Advising, Financial and Administrative Management, and Information Technology.

There have been nine persons who have served as Provosts for the Norman Campus Faculty:

Nancy L. Mergler

Nancy L. Mergler was born in 1950.  She received her Ph.D. in 1976 from Syracuse University and was a faculty member within the Department of Psychology and then Director of the Honors Program at OU.  She was named Interim Senior Vice President and Provost in January 1995 shortly after David L. Boren was named President.  Following a nationally advertised search, she was named Senior Vice President and Provost in October 1996.  As Senior Vice President & Provost, Dr. Mergler continues a strong tradition of shared faculty governance on the Norman Campus.  She has increased funding for general education and for the University Libraries.  Under her leadership the number of tenure track and tenured faculty has increased and she supported the increase in undergraduate admission standards implemented in Fall 2000.

---

James Froome Kimpel

James F. (Jeff) Kimpel  was born in 1942.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and was a faculty member in the College of Engineering, and then the first Dean of the newly formed College of Geosciences which included the School of Meteorology.  Following a nationally advertised search, he was named Senior Vice President & Provost in May 1992.  This new title reflected the continuing and central importance that President Van Horn placed on the academic mission of the University.  As Senior Vice President & Provost, Dr. Kimpel sponsored a series of professional development workshops and retreats for the faculty, new chairs, chairs and directors and deans.  The subjects addressed were gender issues, diversity, the university’s administrative structure, faculty evaluation and faculty development. He also was highly instrumental in the groundwork that led to the rapid increase in research expenditures at the University during the mid nineties.  He resigned from the Senior Vice President & Provost position to become Director of the National Severe Storms Lab, a federal government laboratory in Norman Oklahoma, as well as continuing as a faculty member within the School of Meteorology.

Richard Carrell Gipson

Richard C. Gipson, born 1949, D.Ed. from Penn. State, served as Interim Provost from June 91 through May 92 and continued the work Provost Wadlow had emphasized, such as the planning mechanisms of Strategy for Excellence and Program Review.  He also led OU through its decennial accreditation by the North Central Association, before returning to the College of Fine Arts to serve as Director of the School of Music.

---

Joan Krueger Wadlow

Joan Krueger Wadlow, born 1932, with a Ph.D. in Political Science from Nebraska, served as Provost beginning in July of 1986 under both President Frank Horton and President Richard Van Horn.   During tough budget years, President Van Horn realigned the University’s administration to put more emphasis on its academic mission.  Many of the academic initiatives which are still being pursued at OU were started or formed under Provost Wadlow such as the goal setting self review of the Strategy for Excellence and Program Review, revision of the freshman year, revitalizing the Honors program with research opportunities and recruitment efforts, and the recruitment of minority and women faculty.  Dr. Wadlow went on to be Chancellor of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, seeking, as she said, an even newer frontier.

John Randolf Morris

President Banowsky considered quick turnovers in the Provost’s office to be  negative in their impact on  the University and was determined to select a Provost with a strong commitment to OU.   John Randolf Morris, born in 1930, became Interim Provost and then Provost under Banowsky, serving from 1976 to 1984.  He received degrees from both the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University and was a native of Shawnee, Oklahoma.  During the time that Banowsky briefly resigned and then returned to the Presidency, Provost Morris served as Interim President.  “JR” , as Dr. Morris is affectionately known to all, then served as Provost until 1986. He retired with the title of Regents Professor Emeritus, Professor Emeritus,  Provost Emeritus, and with the Distinguished Service Citation.  JR was again pressed into service to his University when he came out of retirement to serve as Interim President in 1994 after President Van Horn stepped down prior to President Boren being named.

Barbara S. Uehling

Dr. Barbara Staner Uehling, born 1932, was trained as a psychologist at Wichita and Northwestern University.  She had held several administrative positions and deanships before being recruited to OU to serve as Provost under President Sharp in 1976.  She holds the unique distinguish of being the first women named to the chief academic position at the University.  Dr. Uehling remained at OU for two years, leaving to become Chancellor at the University of  Missouri-Columbia, and then moving on to other academic and professional administrative positions.

I. Moyer Hunsberger

I. Moyer Hunsberger was born in 1921 and received all of his degrees from Lehigh University.  Before coming to OU, he served as a Professor of organic chemistry at Fordham University and Antioch College and as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Massachusetts and at the State University of New York at Albany.  Dr. Hunsberger was hired by OU President Paul Sharp and served as OU Provost from August of 1973 through December of 1975.  He went on to serve as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the American University in Cairo, Egypt from 1981 until his death at age 65 in 1987.

Joseph Cochran Ray

Unfortunately for President Holloman, it was not strife among the Vice Presidents but strife in the streets that unsettled his administration.  Frustrated by the student rebellion, he resigned in 1972. However, his orderly plan of succession worked well. Provost McCarter became Acting President and then Interim President while a search was made for President Holloman’s replacement.  When the new administration of President Sharp began in 1973, Provost McCarter resigned.  Joseph Cochran Ray, 1936-98, who was Associate Provost for Administration, served as Acting Provost while a search was made for Provost McCarter’s replacement.   Dr. Ray continued on in the OU administration, finally becoming Associate Provost of the College of Continuing Education. Dr. McCarter continued as a faculty member and  taught English until his retirement in 1981.  Dr. McCarter received a number of honors in gratitude for his service to the University including being named a Regents Professor, Provost Emeritus, being given the Distinguished Service Citation, and being named Provost Emeritus and Regents Professor Emeritus at the time of his retirement.

Pete Kyle McCarter
The first Provost, Pete Kyle McCarter, 1910-88, was a  fine speaker, with a wry sense of humor not unlike Oklahoma’s own Will Rogers.  Dr. McCarter earned his Ph.D. at University of Wisconsin in English Literature. He came to OU September 1, 1953, from his home state where he was Dean of the Faculty at the University of Mississippi “Ole Miss.”  His first title was Executive Vice President working for President George Lynn Cross. In 1968 under President Hollomon  this was changed to Vice President for Academic Affairs.  President Holloman wanted more clarity of leadership in the administration of  the various Vice Presidents and he decided to name one Provost.  Since that time, both the Norman Campus and the Health Sciences Center each have had an individual holding the title  Provost. Following a national search Dr. McCarter was named Provost of the Norman Campus.