Anthem Executive Tapped by Northwest Missouri State University for Provost Search
October 16, 2025 – Executive recruitment firm Anthem Executive has been selected by Northwest Missouri State University to lead in its search for a new provost and vice president for academic affairs. Michael Ballew, Scott Watson, Mike “JR” Wheless, and Florene Stawowy are leading the search.
The school is seeking a provost and vice president of academic affairs to serve as its next chief academic officer, with a focus on enrollment management, academic quality and student success. The provost develops and evaluates academic programming in partnership with the university president, board of regents, Northwest leadership team, academic deans, faculty and staff through vision, creativity and vibrant leadership, in alignment with the university’s strategic plan and Northwest’s central focus on profession-based learning.
A minimum of five years of progressive academic leadership experience in higher education, including service as a dean, associate provost or equivalent executive academic administrator is required for this role. Experience and success with enrollment management and enrollment marketing is preferred. Candidates should have experience in external partnership development. Those applying should have the willingness to be bold, seize opportunities and provide for high expectations for students, faculty, staff and partners. Candidates must have excellent team leadership and collaboration skills grounded in trust and valuing differences, supportive of working among and across divisions and providing for empowered leaders.
With an enrollment of about 8,500 students, Northwest is a coeducational, primarily residential four-year university that offers a broad range of undergraduate and selected graduate programs on its Maryville campus and through Northwest Online. Founded in 1905 and ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top public regional universities in the Midwest, Northwest boasts a high retention rate and a graduation rate in the 95th percentile among its peers.
Related: Anthem Executive Assists Midwestern State University with President Search
Anthem Executive, headquartered in Houston, TX, serves clients across a range of business sectors, including higher education, health sciences, corporate and non-profit institutions, global software and technology, private equity, insurance, service and manufacturing, oil and gas, and others. Its consultants bring a combined 80 years’ experience in the search industry. The firm’s higher education practice spans the entire leadership spectrum. In other sectors, Anthem Executive covers all roles from CEO and other C-suite leaders, board directors, vice president, and directors, among others.
Proven Recruiters
Mr. Ballew, a registered Native American and member of the Echota Cherokee Tribe, serves as the firm’s chief diversity, inclusion, equity, and compliance officer, as well as search committee facilitator. He joined the executive search industry 14 years ago following a 20-plus year career in senior-level management with expertise in recruiting, counseling, training, operations, strategic planning, facilitation, project management, and workplace diversity.
Mr. Watson has been in the executive search industry for over 30 years. In addition to higher education institutions, he has served hospital/health systems, global software and technology companies, private equity enterprises, MCOs, insurance companies, service and manufacturing organizations with global footprints, and others.
Anthem Executive Assists Texas A&M International University with President Search
Anthem Executive has helped to recruit Christopher Maynard as the new president of Texas A&M International University (TAMIU). The board’s decision on August 28th to name him the sole finalist for the position followed recommendations from Anthem Executive and Texas A&M University System chancellor Glenn Hegar. Pablo Arenaz, who had led the 10,000-student campus in Laredo since 2016, died last October. “The A&M System exists to expand opportunity and serve Texas,” said Mr. Hegar. “Dr. Maynard has spent his career doing exactly that — strengthening transfer pathways, supporting faculty excellence and aligning programs with workforce needs.”
Mr. Wheless, a veteran of more than two decades in the search industry, has served a broad portfolio of clients across many industry lines on behalf of organizations ranging from small operations to Fortune $100 billion plus enterprises – including working with and recruiting some of the nation’s most influential leadership. Mr. Wheless has served institutions and organizations across a broad range of geographies and sectors in higher education, technology, healthcare, energy, financial services, law, insurance, hospitality and food services, retail, CPG, EPC, manufacturing, aerospace, mining, construction, and real estate.
Ms. Stawowy, who has been in executive search for over 20 years, is a core member of the higher education and academic health practice. Over the last two decades, she has developed deep expertise in senior‐level search, having been charged with numerous executive leadership transitions with a particular emphasis on higher education and academic health search.
Related: Anthem Executive Recruits President for Lamar University
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
