Provost John Meier announced his resignation at a Tuesday meeting of the faculty, stating that he will be returning to teaching mathematics. The resignation, which takes effect at the end of the academic year when his contract expires, triggers a nationwide search to replace the college’s chief academic officer.
“Everything you work on as a provost, you work with other people,” Meier wrote in an email. “The pride I take is very much … in having been part of the institution when we accomplished a lot.”
Meier, who has worked at Lafayette for 31 years, took over the academic division in 2019. His tenure has been marked by an enlarging and diversifying faculty cohort, novel challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of artificial intelligence and intermittent squabbles with professors over issues including textbooks and enrollment.
Despite the challenges he and his office have faced, Meier will miss the position.
“I work with great people here in the Office of the Provost and across the campus,” he wrote. “The administration and staff are mission-focused in ways that aren’t always visible to members of the faculty and it has been wonderful to have the opportunity to be part of that.”
As provost, Meier is in part responsible for the promotion process for faculty members. English professor Bianca Falbo works with Meier on the faculty Promotion, Tenure & Review Committee, in addition to overseeing the First-Year Seminar program.
“Provost Meier has been a good leader and I’m definitely going to miss him, not just for the tenure committee, but he’s been a terrific supporter of the First-Year Seminar program and of the writing program,” Falbo said.
College president Nicole Hurd, who announced Meier’s resignation through a campus-wide email on Wednesday, said Meier is an “amazing partner.”
“This is a natural ending of a tenure,” Hurd said.
Gabby B. • Oct 6, 2023 at 11:13 pm
The unfunny jokes will continue to be math related.