Academic Search Places New Provost for New Mexico State University
February 28, 2023 – Education-focused executive recruiter Academic Search has placed the new provost and chief academic officer for New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces. Alan R. Shoho, dean and professor emeritus of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was selected for the position. The assignment was led by senior consultants Maria Thompson and Cynthia M. Patterson, along with associate consultant Lisa C. Rosenberg. Dr. Shoho will begin his new role on April 17. “Dr. Shoho has tremendous experience both as an administrator and as a researcher in the fields of education and social justice,” said NMSU chancellor Dan Arvizu. “His vision for NMSU aligns with the progress we’ve made toward the goals outlined in our LEADS 2025 strategic plan, and I am sure he is the best fit to help elevate our research and social mobility initiatives.”
Before serving as dean at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for five years, Dr. Shoho was associate vice provost for academic and faculty support at the University of Texas at San Antonio for two years. He started his academic career as an assistant professor in the University of Portland’s School of Education in 1991. Earlier, he worked as a high school math teacher in Hawaii after working as an electrical engineer for Hughes Aircraft Co. and Rockwell International.
Transformative Opportunities
Dr. Shoho’s father, a Korean War veteran who grew up on the island of Kauai in Hawaii as the seventh of 11 children, earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois using the G.I. Bill. “I have personally experienced how families are transformed with the opportunities created through access to higher education,” said Dr. Shoho. “Had he not been able to attend and earn his degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, my life would likely have been very different. Consequently, I am very passionate about providing students with the same opportunities.”
Dr. Shoho said he was interested in becoming NMSU’s provost because of its status as a Hispanic-serving institution and a land-grant university, and because of the university’s mission to improve student success and advance equity, inclusion, and diversity.
“Improving student success is critical to NMSU’s future, and similarly equity, inclusion, and diversity is integral to creating a healthy culture, where NMSU can re-achieve its R1 status and address grand challenges like racism and generational poverty, and borderland, environmental, health and social issues, to improve the quality of life for all New Mexicans and beyond,” said Dr. Shoho.
Related: Why Universities Have Stepped Up Efforts to Involve Search Firms
Established in 1888, New Mexico State University is an education institution offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. It offers program in fields of agriculture and home economics, arts and sciences, business administration and economics, education, engineering, and health and social services. The university has endowment assets worth $48.1 million.
Higher Education Recruiters
Academic Search is the only search firm in the nation with a formal relationship to a premier leadership development program. As the subsidiary of the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI), the firm provides substantial financial support to a number of leadership identification, development and support programs across all sectors of public and private higher education. The firm is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The firm is led by Jay Lemons, who has served as president since 2017, after serving for 25 years as a college president in both public and private higher education.
Academic Search Recruits President for United Lutheran Seminary
Following an extensive search, Academic Search has assisted the United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) in the placement of Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin as its next president. Bishop Erwin succeeds interim president, the Rev. Dr. Angela Zimmann. Bishop Erwin, the fourth bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is the first openly gay male to serve in that office in the churches of the Lutheran World Federation.
Dr. Thompson also serves as senior executive coach. She is a career educator with a distinguished history of leadership in higher education. She has been president and CEO of Coppin State University, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta, and vice president for research and sponsored program at Tennessee State University, among other roles.
Dr. Patterson joined Academic Search in 2018, after over 35 years in multiple leadership positions within education, including serving as a vice president of academic affairs, chief student affairs officer, and dean of arts and sciences. Dr. Patterson also brings unique experience and expertise in educational technology, having served as a vice-president for two K12 educational technology companies, and as a senior vice president for a data analytics firm.
Ms. Rosenberg has assisted in searches for presidents, vice presidents, deans, and others at many types of higher education institutions and organizations—across the U.S. and internationally—since joining Academic Search in 2016. Previously, Ms. Rosenberg spent 14 years at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) in various roles, including director of research and associate director for consulting services.
Related: Academic Search Recruits President for Norwich University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
