UNE announces appointment of new provost and vice president for academic affairs

University of New England President Danielle N. Ripich has announced the appointment John L. "Jack" Williams, Ph.D., M.Ed., as the University's new provost and vice president of academic affairs, effective June 1.

"Dr. Williams will be joining UNE at a very pivotal time in our history," President Ripich said in her announcement.  "He brings us tremendous depth and strength in all the right areas - a hat trick of experience, so to speak. He has had a distinguished career in health care teaching and scholarship, with a deep appreciation for the liberal arts as the essential foundation of a university; a long and proven track record of securing and sustaining funding for research; and years of outstanding academic leadership. And in true UNE fashion, Jack also has a deep and abiding commitment to community service."

Dr. Williams has served as an educator, researcher and leader for 19 years in both private and public institutions, including 11 years as a dean. He is currently dean and professor at the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Prior to that, he served as dean of the division of Health Sciences in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.

As dean at these two universities, Dr. Williams was responsible for 15 different academic programs in 10 different fields at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and was closely involved in their accreditation review process.

Interdisciplinary Strategic Planning

As a campus leader, he built collaborations among health sciences, the liberal arts, and the community that will align well with UNE's mission and vision. In particular, Dr. Williams led an initiative to develop an interdisciplinary strategic plan for the Belmont College of Health Sciences that resulted in a number of interdisciplinary projects involving multiple departments.

The two most prominent of these programs involved interdisciplinary curricula development for the use of human simulators and interdisciplinary health service projects involving international travel and immersion cultural studies. Because of the unique interdisciplinary focus in Belmont's use of human simulators, its College of Health Sciences is now one of 15 international partners involved in the development of curriculum software for medical and health science educators using human simulators throughout the world.  Belmont's health science international interdisciplinary programs have sent teams of students and faculty to regions including Cambodia, Guatemala, Ghana, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Dr. Williams has extensively published results of his research in peer-reviewed journals and has been involved in numerous grants, both public and private, including funding for physiological bench research, health science training programs, community service projects and alcohol and drug abuse prevention grants.

"In addition to executive administration, research and scholarship skills, Dr. Williams brings with him a rich history of 'frontline' experiences that I anticipate both faculty and students will appreciate," President Ripich said.

Health and Medical Education

Throughout his career Dr. Williams has been involved heavily in health and medical education, but increasingly involved in general education and liberal arts programs as a teacher and administrative partner. As a teacher, he has worked with students in biology and honors and general education programs for many years at both USD and Belmont. During his deanship at Belmont, Dr. Williams has been teaching a first-year seminar course each fall and the past year has served as an advisor to a student in the Music Theatre program developing a project with a Native American theme.

Some highlights of Dr. Williams' academic career include:

Research expertise and funding

  • Developed sustained programs of funded research and strategic partnerships, such as:
  • Partnership with Laerdal Center for Educational Excellence in Simulation at Belmont
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant for nursing scholarship for minorities
  • Startup funding from US Office of Public Health (DHHS) for Belmont Center of Community Health and Health Equity
  • HRSA funding for PA training in Native American primary care
  • NIH-SAMSA State Incentive Planning and Development Grant for alcohol and drug prevention
  • Other substantial research funding in the areas of neuroscience and the central nervous system

Health care teaching and scholarship

  • More than 25 years of teaching and supervision in the areas of neuroscience, physiology, pharmacology, epidemiology, biostatistics and public health
  • Ph.D. in physiology from Texas Tech University
  • Master of Education from Georgia State University
  • Postdoctoral research at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and at University of Iowa College of Medicine

Academic leadership

  • National Strategic Leadership Group of the American Heart Association
  • Provost's Council, Belmont University and Univ. of South Dakota
  • University Strategic Planning Strategy Team, Univ. of South Dakota
  • USD School of Medicine Administrative Council
  • Research Committee, American Heart Association
  • Interdisciplinary strategic plan for the Belmont College of Health Sciences that included projects such as interdisciplinary simulation and interdisciplinary service, the latter in regions such as Cambodia, Guatemala, Ghana, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

About his new challenge, Dr. Williams says, "Under President Ripich's leadership, UNE is at the cutting edge of comprehensive universities. It's developing meaningful collaborations at the intersection of liberal arts, professional programs, and the community. UNE is in sync with the rhythms of both the local and global communities and provides the kind of balanced education that today's students‚Äô need.  It's an exceptional place, and I am honored to serve as its academic leader."

"As the chief academic officer of the university, Dr. Williams will continue to strengthen UNE's growing academic and research programs and our unwavering commitment to excellence in all we do," President Ripich said. "I am abundantly confident that Jack is prepared for this critically important leadership role and I look forward to welcoming him into the UNE community."

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.