KNOXVILLE –- Dr. Robert C. Holub of the University of California, Berkeley, has been named provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Tennessee, Chancellor Loren Crabtree announced Tuesday.
Dr. Robert C. Holub Holub, dean of the undergraduate division for the College of Letters and Science at UC-Berkeley, will assume the Tennessee post in August. He succeeds Anne Mayhew, who will retire after 37 years at UT.
“We are incredibly fortunate to attract a scholar and administrator of Bob’s caliber to Tennessee,” said Crabtree. “His skills and service at one of the nation’s premier public research universities will ensure we advance in our goal of becoming a top 25 public research university.”
Holub currently oversees curriculum and instruction for UC-Berkeley’s 18,000 undergraduates enrolled in the College of Letters and Science and campus-wide enrichment programs. He places a special emphasis on the colleges’ interdisciplinary programs as well as its liberal arts breadth requirement designed to expose students to a wide range of experiences.
At UT, he will oversee all of Knoxville’s academic operations, including eight colleges, all graduate programs, enrollment services and libraries. He also will continue to implement the university’s Ready for the World global education and cultural awareness initiative and work closely with others to strengthen and capitalize on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory partnership.
“From enrolling the most qualified freshman class in our history this year to attracting the largest totals in research awards than ever before, we’ve only just begun to realize our full potential,” said Crabtree. “Bob will work very well with our dedicated faculty and administrators to continue that momentum and ensure we provide the very best education to our students and service to our state.”
“I am delighted to have the privilege of serving as provost of UT,” said Holub. “I believe UT is poised to move into the top ranks of U.S. institutions, and I will be most pleased if I can contribute to that success. In my career I have emphasized academic excellence in both research and teaching, as well as the important role public universities play in their communities, in their states and in the nation. I plan to continue this emphasis as provost of the Knoxville campus.”
Dr. Harry “Hap” McSween, distinguished professor of science in the university’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, chaired the search committee that made the recommendation.
“Dr. Holub is a wonderful candidate for the position and we were pleased to recommend him to Chancellor Crabtree,” McSween said. “He has a good understanding of the many details of managing academic affairs for a top-tier university campus.”
The National Research Council consistently ranks Berkeley’s academic departments among the top five in the country, with 97 percent of its graduate programs being ranked in the top 10 in their fields.
Holub, who has been at UC-Berkeley since 1979, has served as dean of the undergraduate division of the College of Letters and Sciences since 2003 and chaired the Department of German from 1991 to 1997. He has also served as a visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ohio State University.
He holds a doctorate in German literature with a minor in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and master’s degrees in German literature and comparative literature, also from Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor’s degree in natural sciences from the University of Pennsylvania.
He has a son, Alexei, who is a graduate student at California Institute of Technology. He and his wife, Sabine, have two children, Madelaine and Shoshanah.
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Contact: Tom Milligan (865) 974-9438