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Oglethorpe Provost Announces Intent to Resign
in June 2000
Atlanta – Nancy H. Kerr, provost at Oglethorpe University
since 1997, announced Tuesday her intention to resign at the end of
the 1999-2000 academic year. She plans to join retired husband David
Foulkes at their recently completed ocean view home in Florence,
Ore.
"This was a very difficult decision for us," said Kerr, who
joined the Oglethorpe faculty in 1983. "We'd been planning to move
to Oregon for several years, but without a specific time frame in
place. Now that the house is completed, I face the inevitability of
the move and of the career change it will necessitate for me. It is
difficult to leave the outstanding group of colleagues at
Oglethorpe. I've been pleased with what we've been able to
accomplish and I'm very excited about the direction we're headed
under the new administration. But after a lot of soul-searching, the
time seems right."
Larry Large, Oglethorpe president since April 1, will work with
Kerr to establish a committee of faculty, staff and students that
will conduct a national search for a new provost to join the
University by June 30, 2000.
The responsibilities of the provost include working closely with
all full-time faculty in curriculum design and implementation,
handling faculty appointments, and overseeing operations in the
athletic department, library, academic resources and registrar's
office. The position also oversees the academic program in
University College, Oglethorpe's administrative division for
continuing education.
"I'm very sorry to see Nancy go," said Large. "Her stewardship of
the academic program has been exemplary and she has been very
helpful to me personally as a newcomer to Oglethorpe. But I
certainly understand her decision. She'll leave a legacy of having
successfully implemented some difficult changes in the core
curriculum and in the course load structure, both of which are
commendable accomplishments. Her interaction with faculty has been
illustrative of the high esteem with which she is held and her many
accomplishments reflect the respect her colleagues have for her."
After receiving a bachelor's degree with honors and distinction
from Stanford (Calif.) University in 1969, Kerr pursued doctoral
level studies with an emphasis in cognitive psychology at Cornell
University. Upon completion of her doctorate she became assistant
professor of psychology at the University of Wyoming. Four years
later she moved to Emory University as visiting assistant professor
of psychology and subsequently full-time assistant professor of
psychiatry. She was a visiting assistant professor at Mercer
University for one year before coming to Oglethorpe as assistant
professor of psychology in 1983. She was promoted to associate
professor in 1985, received tenure in 1989 and became a full
professor in 1990. She was appointed interim academic dean in 1996.
While at Oglethorpe, Kerr has served on the Strategic Planning
Committee, the Core Curriculum Committee, the Academic Program
Committee, the Tenure and Promotion Committee, the Internship
Committee and the Faculty Council. She was a division chair from
1989-1996. She is a member of the Psychonomic Society, the American
Psychological Society and the Southeastern Psychology Association.
Her research has been published extensively in psychology journals.
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