The Kent State University Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Beverly J. Warren, the 64-year-old provost and senior vice president of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for the school's top administrative job. Dr. Warren will succeed retiring President Lester A. Lefton, effective July 1.
"President-elect Beverly Warren is the right choice to continue Kent State's remarkable, positive momentum and will continue to build the growing sense of pride in our university," Jane Murphy Timken, chair of Kent State's Board of Trustees, said in a statement. "She's ideally suited to build upon the great platform that President Lefton has established over the past eight years.
Timken said that Warren has been referred to as 'a leader of leaders.' Warren's abundant experience won unanimous votes of the board.
Warren, Ed.D., Ph.D., FACSM has signed a three-year contract with the university with an annual base salary of $450,000.
"I feel like jumping out of a gift box or something. A university is really formed by its people, and I have been so impressed with the people of Kent State University. My pledge is a 24/7, high-energy commitment to this institution and to the ideals that I know you articulated to me and want to see for the best future for this university," News-Leader reports.
Warren will now become KSU's second female president after Carol Cartwright (1991 to 2006).
Richard Marsh, KSU trustee and chairman of the 17-member presidential search committee, said that they were looking for three qualities in KSU's future president - an outstanding academic leader; strong administrative experience and good social skills.
"Bev really had all three of those elements in a really unbeatable package. She's a proven leader with great passion for academic success. She has a warm and engaging personality. I'm sure students, faculty and all members of the greater Kent community will find her to be a visionary and an inspiring leader," Marsh said.
Overall, Warren served in various administrative roles for more than 25 years. She has served as provost and senior vice president at VCU since 2011. She joined VCU in 2000 as a professor and the head of its School of Education's Division of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Other senior leadership positions held by Warren at VCU include associate dean for faculty affairs in 2003 and dean of the School of Education in January 2007.
