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ASC Dean Joe Steinmetz Named Ohio State's Chief Academic Officer

November 30, 2012

ASC Dean Joe Steinmetz Named Ohio State's Chief Academic Officer

Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee has named College of Arts and Sciences Executive Dean and Vice Provost Joseph E. Steinmetz to the position of Executive Vice President and Provost. Steinmetz will assume those duties on July 1, 2013.

Gee said Steinmetz is eminently qualified for the role of the university’s chief academic officer, “Dean Steinmetz, who previously served as interim provost at the University of Kansas, has throughout his academic career and administrative leadership, shown an absolute commitment to strengthening interdisciplinary research, and collaborations across departments and colleges.

“As our new Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Steinmetz will continue and expand the effort to move us forward academically and solidify our position in the front ranks of American universities.”

Steinmetz thrives on challenge and is dedicated to making a positive contribution to the academic enterprise. Since his arrival on campus in 2009, he has worked tirelessly to do just that. He understood clearly both the enormous challenges and opportunities that existed in bringing together and harnessing the powerful potential of the former five arts and sciences colleges. Under his leadership, his vision of creating the nation’s preeminent College of Arts and Sciences is becoming a reality.

Among his many initiatives, Steinmetz engaged in an aggressive mission to invigorate the arts on campus and promote an atmosphere that inspires creativity, spearheading an effort to renovate facilities and create an arts district at Ohio State’s front door--the intersection of 15th Avenue and High Street.

Not stopping there, he has worked to form new partnerships that extend the university's reach throughout the city, that include the recently-formed Town & Gown Advisory Committee for the Arts. This consists of arts and community leaders that will serve as a forum for collaboration between arts leaders in the city and at the university on mutually relevant issues and shared opportunities.

He has been a strong advocate and supporter of cross-disciplinary research, bolstering efforts to work across departments and colleges. He has committed funding for the new CBEC building that will foster connections between chemists and engineers; supported the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, an interdisciplinary research facility accelerating understanding mind-behavior relationships; facilitated establishing the Center for Applied Plant Sciences, a partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences; and has strengthened existing centers, initiatives, and programs.

He has been passionately devoted to supporting undergraduate and graduate education at Ohio State, community service initiatives and to engaging our alumni. A true Buckeye, he never misses an opportunity to enhance the reputation of Ohio State. During his tenure as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, he has always made sure that its mission and goals were in full alignment with those of the university.

Before coming to Ohio State, Steinmetz served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas, where he was named University Distinguished Professor. He spent 19 years at Indiana University, where he was executive associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Psychology and Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

A nationally respected behavioral neuroscientist, Steinmetz is president of the Association for Psychological Science. He was recognized in 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences with the Troland Award for contributions to the fields of experimental psychology and neuroscience; he was designated AAAS Fellow in 2012.

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