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WVU hires experienced scientist, academic leader to serve as provost and vice president for academic affairs

Chris Myers

Following a national search focused on the academic future of West Virginia University, President Michael T. Benson is announcing the hiring of Beverly Wendland, an accomplished scholar and academic leader with wide-ranging higher education experience, to serve as the University’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Beverly is a nationally recognized cell biologist who has served as a faculty member, department chair, dean, and provost during her extensive career, which has also included direct work with large academic medical centers,” President Benson said.

Wendland most recently served as senior advisor to the chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, following a successful five-year term in the role of provost and executive vice chancellor. The University’s provost administers all academic affairs, providing oversight for deans, academic programs, student support services, curriculum development, faculty engagement and recruitment, academic budgets, institutional data and accreditation. Under Wendland’s leadership, Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) — a private research university — made significant strides in academic excellence, research innovation and community engagement while implementing a 10-year strategic plan which included the creation of the School of Public Health.

“Throughout my career, I have enhanced student learning while leveraging academic excellence for the public good,” Wendland said. “Strategic thinking allows higher education to evolve in ways that benefit all — from global discovery to locally grounded community impact.”

Prior to being hired at Washington University in St. Louis in 2020, Wendland served for five years as the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She had previously been a member of the Johns Hopkins faculty since 1998, and was the chair of the Department of Biology from 2009 to 2014.