Funk Associates Recruits Provost for Clemson University
October 24, 2025 – Funk Associates has recruited J. Cole Smith as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost of Clemson University. This follows approval from the board of trustees compensation committee. He will replace Robert H. Jones, who announced he was stepping down following 11 years serving as the university’s provost. “I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Cole Smith has been named as our next executive vice president for academic affairs and provost,” said university president Jim Clements. “Dr. Smith is a highly regarded faculty member, researcher and leader in his field, and we are very excited to welcome him home to Clemson. I also want to thank our campus community for their input throughout the process, the search committee for their dedication and Dr. Jones for his outstanding leadership as provost over the past 11 years. Dr. Smith is rejoining Clemson at a pivotal time in higher education, and I am confident that he will continue to help lead Clemson fiercely forward.”
“We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Smith as Clemson’s provost and chief academic officer,” said Windsor Sherrill, associate vice president for health research and chair of the search committee. “We had remarkable interest in this position and a pool of highly qualified candidates. I am immensely grateful to each member of the search committee for their time and diligence during this process.”
Dr. Smith most recently served as dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University since 2019. Prior to Syracuse, he served as associate provost for academic initiatives and chair of the Department of Industrial Engineering at Clemson from 2014 to 2019. Before joining Clemson, Dr. Smith was a professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Florida and the University of Arizona. He earned his PhD in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences from Clemson University.
“We welcome Dr. Smith back to Clemson,” said Sarah White, Clemson faculty senate president. “The senate is excited to partner with him in supporting faculty and advancing the university’s academic mission. His proven leadership, collaborative approach and strong record of supporting faculty distinguished him among an exceptional group of candidates.”
As Clemson’s 10th chief academic officer and seventh provost, Dr. Smith will oversee the University’s academic enterprise, working closely with faculty, staff and students to deliver an exceptional learning experience and advance Clemson’s mission as a leading public research institution.
“I am excited to return to my alma mater, to the place that shaped my values and provided generations of my family with the tools to excel professionally and serve our community,” said Dr. Smith. “Clemson University is uniquely positioned to lead the way in how a public land-grant university inspires students with a compelling hands-on education, innovates research that meets the critical needs of our region, state and country, and powers economic development and quality of life in South Carolina and beyond. It is a dream to lead the academic enterprise of this great university in pursuit of those goals, and I am truly humbled to serve as provost.”
Clemson University, one of the country’s most selective public research universities, serves a uniquely driven and highly accomplished student body. Ranked as the 24th best national public university by U.S. News & World Report, Clemson is a science- and engineering-oriented college dedicated to teaching, research and service. Founded in 1889, the university is committed both to world-class research and a high quality of life. Clemson has 20,868 undergraduate and 5,538 graduate students. The university offers more than 80 majors and upwards of 90 minors. Its student-to-faculty ratio is 16:1.
Recruiting Women and Minorities
Funk Associates is an executive search firm specializing in higher education executive recruitment. The firm has recruited chancellors/presidents for two-thirds of all public AAU universities. The firm has also recruited presidents or chancellors to more than one-half of U.S. News & World Report’s recently published “Top 30 National Universities.” Over time, it has conducted more than 425 searches for college and university presidents and chancellors as well as an even greater number of provosts, deans, and various vice presidents. The firm’s sports division, headed by Willie Funk and Scott Thompson, specializes in searches for athletic directors and coaches.
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The firm has been recognized by the Women’s Network of the American Council on Education (ACE) for its work in recruiting women and minorities to senior levels of higher education. Notably, the search firm has broken the color and/or gender line in president searches at more than 40 institutions around the country, making it one of the most highly sought after search firms across the sector.
R. William “Bill” Funk, founder and president, is a widely respected search consultant serving higher education. He has been called the “guru of higher education recruiting” by The Chronicle of Higher Education and is listed as one of the 200 best executive recruiters in the world in The Global 200 Executive Recruiters: An Essential Guide to the Best Recruiters in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America (Jossey-Bass, Inc.). Prior to founding his own firm 16 years ago, Mr. Funk was the national practice leader of the education practice and office managing director of the Dallas office for Korn Ferry International for more than a decade.
Related: Funk Associates Recruits Dean for the University of South Alabama College of Engineering
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
