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Dear ĢƵ Community:
I am delighted to announce that following a comprehensive nationwide search, Vicky Wilkins will be ĢƵ’s permanent provost and chief academic officer. Vicky’s dedication to ĢƵ, her outstanding academic track record, her insightful ideas, and her community-focused approach make her the right choice to lead our academic enterprise. I am excited to partner with Vicky as we collaborate with our community to build on ĢƵ’s many strengths and exciting momentum and write the dynamic next chapter for our storied university.
The search committee assembled and reviewed an impressive pool of candidates and recommended an outstanding group of finalists. The input from faculty and community members across the university provided a robust picture of what we sought in our next provost and how this leader will work closely with me to lead our university forward. During the interview process, I was impressed with Vicky’s forthright assessment of our opportunities, our challenges, and our shared path to even greater success for ĢƵ.
The provost plays a fundamental and unique role in the life and achievements of a university. As a partner to me, Vicky will be central in our strategic planning and decision-making. She is a tireless advocate for our faculty and their impactful scholarship, and Vicky will continue elevating ĢƵ’s academic prowess and bolstering the innovative approaches that make ĢƵ distinct and transformative. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to collaborate with exceptional provosts, and I am eager to continue working closely with Vicky and fulfilling our vision together.
For nearly a decade—first, as dean of the school of Public Affairs (SPA) and then as acting provost—Vicky has led the university to remarkable accomplishments and skillfully navigated an array of internal and external challenges. Vicky’s dedicated leadership across these roles was a driving force for ĢƵ attaining R1 status from the Carnegie Classification. This leap forward in our scholarship and research enhances our academic possibilities and university reputation. At the same time, Vicky strengthened our unique ĢƵ focus on teaching and research. Her commitment to ĢƵ’s distinctiveness—academically, in the community, and as a place where students thrive—will be fundamental to our strategic planning and the “big bets” that will help shape our future.
The breadth and depth of Vicky’s impact at ĢƵ is impressive. Together with our CFO Bronté Burleigh-Jones, Vicky skillfully co-led the university budget process, aligning our mission, our resources, and our opportunities for a vibrant future. Vicky’s is a constant presence on campus; as a mentor, resource, and friend to so many in our community, she is one of ĢƵ’s best advocates. Thanks to her extensive work in many parts of the university, she has a deep understanding and clear vision for priority areas such as student enrollment and retention, supporting our faculty and staff, university development, and alumni engagement.
Before becoming acting provost in 2023, Vicky served as dean of SPA for six years. During that time, SPA’s undergraduate and graduate enrollments increased by 60 percent. Vicky raised more than $26 million as dean and established the SPA Student Emergency Fund and the SPA First-Generation Guide Program. Under her leadership, SPA faculty realized 58 percent growth in externally funded research from 2019–2023, and the school launched the SPA Analytical and Management Institute and the Public Affairs Policy Lab. Vicky served as SPA’s senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2014–2017 and before coming to ĢƵ, spent 11 years as a faculty member and academic administrator at the University of Georgia.
Vicky is a leading scholar of public administration and policy, with an emphasis on representative bureaucracy, gender and race issues, and human resource management. Her groundbreaking work in the field of women, minorities, and policy outcomes has significantly influenced the discipline of public administration and serves as a valuable resource for policymakers. Her research contributions have been featured in scholarly journals including the American Political Science Review, Public Administration Review, and Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, among others.
I want to express my deep gratitude to the provost search committee. Dean Linda Aldoory did a terrific job chairing the committee and bringing the critically helpful and impactful perspectives of the group to this process. My thanks also to the Faculty Senate leadership, who were great partners to me in shaping a robust, shared-governance search framework, and to the Senate’s faculty advisory group for their counsel. This collaborative process helped us achieve our search goals, meaningfully engage with faculty, and identify the right academic leader for our future.
Please join me in congratulating Vicky.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Alger
President