Members of the Office
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Daniel I. Linzer Provost 2-143 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-5117 Fax: 847 467-1630 nu-provost@northwestern.edu |
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Ronald R. Braeutigam Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education 1-114 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-7040 Fax: 847 491-4434 braeutigam@northwestern.edu |
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Jake Julia Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives 1800 Sherman, Suite 205 Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-2912 jjulia@northwestern.edu |
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Dwight A. McBride Associate Provost for Graduate Education 1-502 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847-491-8502 dwight-mcbride@northwestern.edu |
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Michael Mills Associate Provost for University Enrollment 1801 Hinman #319 Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-4477 michael-mills@northwestern.edu |
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Jean E. Shedd Associate Provost for Budget, Facilities, and Analysis 2-147 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-8546 j-shedd@northwestern.edu |
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James B. Young Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs 1-110 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-7040 Fax: 847 491-4434 jbyoung@northwestern.edu |
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Dona Cordero Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion 1800 Sherman, Suite 205 Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491 3355 d-cordero@northwestern.edu |
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Marianna Kepka Assistant Provost for Academic Administration 1800 Sherman Avenue, 2-206 Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-8548 Fax: 847 467-6500 m-kepka@northwestern.edu |
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Peter Civetta Director, Office of Undergraduate Research 1-223 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 467-0499 Fax: 847 491-4434 p-civetta@northwestern.edu |
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Judith Donovan Program Assistant 1-222A Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 467-6443 Fax: 847 491-4434 j-donovan@northwestern.edu |
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Daphne Fair-Leary Administrative Assistant 1-112 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847-467-5884 Fax: 847 491-4434 dfl@northwestern.edu |
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Celina Flowers |
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Ursulla Knakmuhs Assistant to the Provost 2-145 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-5117 Fax: 847 467-1630 u-knakmuhs@northwestern.edu |
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Laura Koepele-Tenges Director of Faculty Records and Business Operations 1-211 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-7042 Fax: 847 467-1630 lkt@northwestern.edu |
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Jana Measells Undergraduate Research Advisor 1-225 Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 467-0501 Fax: 847 491-4434 j-measells@northwestern.edu |
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Gretchen Oehlschlager Administrative Assistant Undergraduate Research, Crown Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-6720 Fax: 847 491-4434 glo@northwestern.edu |
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Kate Quimby |
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Joan Slavin Director, University Sexual Harassment Prevention Office Crown 2-636 Evanston Campus Phone: 847 491-3745 sexual-harassment@northwestern.edu Sexual Harassment Prevention Office |
Provost
Daniel I. Linzer became Provost of Northwestern University on September 1, 2007. Linzer joined Northwestern in 1984 as an assistant professor, and is now professor of molecular biosciences. He has conducted pioneering research on the molecular basis of hormone action. Following four years as Associate Dean, Linzer was appointed Dean of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences in 2002.
Prior to coming to Northwestern, Linzer received his Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1976 and a Ph.D. in biochemical sciences from Princeton University in 1980. He completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Among the many awards he has received are the Searle Scholars Award, the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award, and the Northwestern Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award.
Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
Ronald R. Braeutigam, Kapnick Professor of Business Institutions in the Department of Economics, assumed the post of Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education on September 1, 2006. In this capacity, Braeutigam focuses on enhancing the educational experience of Northwestern's undergraduate students. Working with deans, decanal staffs, faculty, and students, he serves as an advocate for undergraduate education and helps to facilitate cross-school initiatives. In collaboration with the Vice President for Student Affairs, he helps to link the curricular and co-curricular lives of students through Northwestern's eleven residential colleges.
Braeutigam's previous university service includes terms as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Advising in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (2004-2006) and Director of the College’s Business Institutions Program (1995-2004).
Braeutigam works with several university centers and programs that report to the Office of the Provost, including: Study Abroad Office, Fellowship Office, University Academic Advising Center, Searle Center for Teaching Excellence , Center for the Writing Arts, Center for Leadership, Center for Civic Engagement, Residential College Program, International Office , and Summer Academic Workshop. In addition, he serves on a vast number of university committees, both formal and informal.
A specialist in microeconomics, industrial organization, and public policy, Braeutigam received his Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa and his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. He joined the faculty of Northwestern’s Department of Economics in 1975. Braeutigam has also taught at Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology, and he has held an appointment as a Senior Research Fellow at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (Science Center Berlin). He is past president of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics. Braeutigam has published many research papers and three books, including one of the leading textbooks in intermediate microeconomic theory. In 1997 he was designated as a Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence, the University’s highest award for distinguished undergraduate teaching.
Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives
Jake Julia assumed the position of Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives on January 1, 2008, while retaining his position of Associate Vice President for Change Management, leading the Office of Change Management.
Julia joined Northwestern in 1996 as Director of Planning and Special Projects in the Office of Administration and Planning. In 2000, he was appointed Assistant Vice President for Change Management at the University and asked to lead the newly created Office of Change Management. Reporting jointly to the Provost and the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance, he has led the Office in facilitating numerous major change initiatives across the University, including the integration of Student Financial Services, the restructuring of administrative functions within The Graduate School, the replacement of the former GRATS program with the Research Assistants Scholarship (RAS) program, the creation, with Human Resource Development, of the new department chairs leadership development process, and multiple other efforts within and across Northwestern's schools and central support units. Julia became Associate Vice President in 2005. He is also a lecturer in both the School of Education and Social Policy and the School of Continuing Studies.
Associate Provost for Graduate Education
Dwight A. McBride, Daniel Hale Williams Professor of African American Studies, English & Performance Studies, assumed the role of Associate Provost for Graduate Education & Dean of The Graduate School on November 1, 2010. In this capacity, McBride focuses on enhancing the educational experience of Northwestern's graduate students. Working with deans, decanal staffs, faculty, and students, he serves as an advocate for graduate education and helps to facilitate cross-school initiatives and coordination via the Office of the Provost.
McBride received his undergraduate degree in English and African American Studies at Princeton University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. McBride was on the Northwestern faculty previously as the Chair of the African American Studies Department from 2002 to 2007. Just prior to returning to Northwestern University as Dean of The Graduate School and Associate Provost for Graduate Education, he served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2007-2010). He also served previously on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh.
A leading scholar of race and literary studies, he has been a University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, a Ford Fellow, and a Mellon Fellow. An award-winning author of numerous publications that examine connections between race theory, black studies, and identity politics, his most recent publication is the co-edited volume A Melvin Dixon: Critical Reader, a collection of critical essays on literature and life from the African American activist and scholar. Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch: Essays on Race and Sexuality, a collection of his essays offering contemporary cultural criticism, was a nominee for the Lambda Literary Award and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. McBride garnered the Best Special Issue Award from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals for the special issue of Public Culture he co-edited titled "100 Years of the 'Souls of Black Folk': A Celebration of W.E.B. DuBois." He is the editor of James Baldwin Now and co-editor of a special issue of Callaloo: A Journal of African-American and African Arts and Letters titled "Plum Nelly: New Essays in Black Queer Studies." Both works received special citations from the Crompton-Noll Award Committee of the Modern Language Association for their significant contribution to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender studies. McBride's other works include Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bi-Sexual African American Fiction, a co-edited volume that earned the Lambda Literary Award for best fiction anthology, and Impossible Witnesses: Truth, Abolitionism, and Slave Testimony.
Associate Provost for University Enrollment
Michael Mills has been Associate Provost for University Enrollment at Northwestern University since July 2005. He is responsible for admissions, financial aid and the registrar's office at the undergraduate level and coordinates those same functions in the graduate and professional schools. Before coming to Northwestern, Mills served as Director of Admission at Miami University of Ohio. Prior to assuming the position at Miami, he served for two years as Executive Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management at the University of Alaska and for four years as Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Alaska Pacific University .
Mills is a graduate of Ohio State, where he received both bachelor’s and master's degrees. He has contributed articles on enrollment-related issues in such journals as The Journal of College Admission and Strategic Enrollment Management Monthly. He has also been a frequent presenter of papers at national conferences on enrollment management.
Associate Provost for Budget, Facilities and Analysis
Jean E. Shedd was appointed Associate Provost for Budget, Facilities and Analysis in January 1999. She sits on the University planning and budgeting committee, and works with academic and administrative units to help link their strategic plans and related budgets with the University's strategic framework. She also works with schools and units on management structure and staffing issues.
She advises the Provost on issues involving space, including new construction, renovation, and allocation of space; and works with schools and Facilities Management in addressing space issues. In addition, her office oversees the collection and management of data relating to faculty appointments, hiring, and promotion and tenure. She serves as co-chair of the University's Classroom Committee, which evaluates classroom use and quality and recommends policies on classroom utilization, priorities for assignment, scheduling and improvements. She represents Northwestern on the governing board of the Greater Chicago Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (GCM HERC).
Shedd works closely with several university programs that report to the Office of the Provost, including Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Women's Center, and University Sexual Harassment Prevention Office. In addition, she serves as the Provost's representative on a number of university committees.
Shedd previously held administrative and financial positions in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, and Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. She received her B.A. with honors and high distinction in the history of architecture and art from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management.
Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs
James B. Young was appointed Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs on July 1, 2008. Prior to that he had served as Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Feinberg School of Medicine since 2000.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster in 1967 and his M.D. from Harvard University in 1971. Following three years of clinical training in internal medicine on the Harvard Medical Service at Boston City Hospital, he obtained subspecialty training in endocrinology and metabolism at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He subsequently joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and had risen to the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine before coming to Northwestern in 1991.
Young’s research interests focus on the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and its role in the pathophysiology of obesity and hypertension. Dr. Young and Dr. Lewis Landsberg (former Dean of Feinberg Medical School) working together were among the first to demonstrate a connection between dietary intake and SNS activity. Subsequent efforts have been directed toward understanding the nature of this connection and its implications for the current world-wide epidemic of obesity.
Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion
Dona Cordero was named Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion in April of 2012, while retaining her position as a Director with the Office of Change Management. Prior to that she served as Assistant Provost for Faculty Development since 2009.
Dona came to Northwestern University in 2000 as Director of Change Management in the then newly formed Office of Change Management. During her tenure as Director she has worked with deans, vice presidents, directors and area managers in undertaking organizational change initiatives such as the Integration of Student Financial Services, the restructuring of administrative functions within The Graduate School, and many other school and central administration-based efforts. She led the creation of the Northwestern University Best Practices Forum which has become an annual event.
Her role includes on-going assessment of institutional diversity efforts for the Office of the Provost and extends this work to enhance support for the Office in leading new initiatives, as well as collaborating with academic and administrative units, to strengthen efforts of inclusion of faculty and students at Northwestern University. In her capacity as Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Dona chairs the University Diversity Council, which is responsible for addressing a wide range of diversity and inclusion-related issues and is comprised of faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Dona collaborates with units and individuals across the University to facilitate the growth and development of a more diverse and inclusive University community.
Dona received her BA from Wellesley College and a Master’s of Science in Organization Development from Loyola University.
Assistant Provost for Academic Administration
Marianna Kepka joined the Office of the Provost in August 2008 after working for a higher education consulting company. She was named Assistant Provost for Academic Administration in 2011 and Director in the Office of Change Management in 2012.
In the Office of the Provost, Kepka directs initiatives that cross units/schools and conducts research and analyses on behalf of the Provost and Associate Provosts to inform University priorities and policies. She also directs the awarding of honorary degrees, senior searches undertaken by the Office, the University's Nemmers Prize competitions, several faculty award and development programs, and the management and distribution of lecture endowments held in the Office of the Provost. As a director in Change Management Kepka engages with schools and units across the University to analyze, develop, and implement change in order to improve operations, services, and organizational processes.
Kepka graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the College of William and Mary with a double major in Spanish and International Studies. After working in the financial sector for a number of years, she received her Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Northwestern University. Fluent in two languages, and conversational in another, her passion is international education.
Director, Office of Undergraduate Research
Peter Civetta oversees undergraduate research programs for the Office of the Provost, including the Undergraduate Research Grants (URG) program and the Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition. He advises students on grant proposals, works to foster undergraduate research across the University, and helps to develop new initiatives. He is also a lecturer for the American Studies Program, where he teaches on the intersection of performance and culture, particularly looking at the impact of religion, politics, and comedy. Before beginning this position, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, exploring the role and impact of religious beliefs on the 2008 presidential elections.
Civetta received his Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Boston College in 1989, before working for almost ten years as a professional actor. He received a Master’s in Theatre Studies from San Francisco State University in 2000 and a PhD in Theatre Studies from Cornell University in 2004. His research explores the performance of religious/spiritual/moral beliefs in contemporary American society, particularly focusing on the impact of preaching as cultural discourse. His book Performing Sermons: Religious Life in America is forthcoming from Intellect Publishing. He is also the guest editor of a special issue of the journal Eccumenia devoted to the intersection of politics, performance, and religion. It will appear in the fall of 2012. In Evanston, Peter runs the Extraordinarily Sophisticated Imagination Club, a theatre program where children improvise and create their own original plays.
Program Assistant
Judith Donovan has been with Northwestern since 1975. She began working with Jeremy Wilson, then Director of Planning, and moved into the Office of the Provost in 1981 when Wilson became Associate Provost.
She was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, and holds a B.A. in political science from Wake Forest University. In the Office of the Provost she has filled a variety of roles and currently coordinates the Nemmers Awards initiative, affairs relating to University committees, and a variety of other matters.
Administrative Assistant
Project Coordinator
Celina Flowers joined the Office of the Provost in December 2008. She works closely with the Associate and Assistant Provosts on various projects and initiatives undertaken within the Office, including the University Teaching Awards, the Searle Fellowships Program, and the Chicago Collaboration for Women in STEM project. She also manages support for the decanal and vice presidential searches undertaken by the Office. Celina has previously worked in the legal and non-profit professions in Chicago. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois.
Assistant to the Provost
Ursulla Knakmuhs started working at Northwestern in May 1983, and has been in the central administration offices since September l995. She has been Assistant to the Provost since April 2000. Through the years, she has been active and held board positions in a number of Evanston and Northwestern affiliated groups. Among her responsibilities in the Office of the Provost are managing the Provost's calendar, scheduling appointments and meetings, handling the Provost's correspondence and phone communications, and coordinating special projects and events for the Office of the Provost.
Ursulla and her family are long-time supporters of NU and have been known occasionally to "bleed purple," especially during football season. Both her husband and son are NU alums.
Director of Faculty Records and Business Operations
Laura Koepele-Tenges is Director of Faculty Records and Business Operations in the Office of the Provost at Northwestern University. She joined the Office of the Provost in 2008 and previously assisted the Associate Provost for Budget, Facilities, and Analysis. Prior to her time at Northwestern, she was an administrator in the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
Laura’s portfolio includes administration and management of the University’s faculty salary planning and faculty hiring plan processes, as well as faculty life cycle processes (leaves, named professorships, tenure and promotion, retirements). She oversees support staff in the Office of the Provost, as well as the management of the Office of the Provost budget and the budgets of the thirteen academic support units reporting to the Provost. She works closely with key administrators in the academic units of Northwestern University; the Office of Budget and Planning; Office of General Counsel; and Human Resources. She is a lead representative on the University’s Faculty and Staff Information System (FASIS) project.
Undergraduate Research Advisor
Jana Measells works as an advisor for undergraduate research programs in the Office of the Provost. She helps promote undergraduate research across the university through departmental outreach and information sessions, and works closely with individual students on all aspects of grant applications and proposal writing for programs sponsored by the Office of the Provost, including Undergraduate Research Grants, the Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant, and Undergraduate Language Grants. She also coordinates poster presentations at the Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition and edits the Exposition program. She is currently completing a PhD dissertation in the Department of History at Northwestern. She has a BA in History and Philosophy and an MA in History from the University of Memphis, and has received fellowships from the SSRC/Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, the German Marshall Fund of the US, and DAAD.
Administrative Assistant
Gretchen L. Oehlschlager provides key support to the Director of Undergraduate Research in the Office of the Provost. Gretchen serves as a point person for students, faculty, administrators and others, managing undergraduate research grant processing, website maintenance and communications. She also coordinates the annual Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition, among other responsibilities.
Gretchen joined the Northwestern community in October 2008. She previously served as the administrator of data and reporting and as a project manager for a non-profit HIV/AIDS center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College.
Administrative Assistant
Kate Quimby provides key support for the Director of Faculty Records and Business Operations at Northwestern University. Beginning in September 2012, Kate worked on the NUGO (Northwestern University Global Opportunities) website for the Office of the Provost. She joined the Office of the Provost full time in her current position in January 2013. Prior to her time at Northwestern University, Kate worked with the MBA Admissions department at the University of Notre Dame Mendoza School Business in Notre Dame, Indiana. She has also worked in the field of advertising and marketing, providing support for national accounts such as Pizza Hut. Kate received her BA in Art History from the University of Kansas in 2006.
Director, Sexual Harassment Prevention Office
Joan E. Slavin joined the university in 2008 as Director of the Office of Sexual Harassment Prevention and Special Assistant to the Provost. Previously, Ms. Slavin practiced labor and employment law in Chicago with the firms of Freeborn & Peters and Sidley & Austin, where she represented private employers in all aspects of employment law, including preventative counseling and working with clients to avoid litigation through positive employee relations. Ms. Slavin graduated with highest distinction from the University of Michigan in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Studies and French. She earned her J.D. degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1991. Ms. Slavin also serves on the University Compliance Committee and the Campus Coalition on Sexual Violence.