DATE: February 23, 2023
TO: The SUNY Old Westbury Campus Community
FROM: Timothy E. Sams, President
RE: Provost Quarless to Move to New Role
Good morning to all on campus,
Dr. Duncan Quarless will be stepping away from his role as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs effective March 1, 2023, to take on a new function as the Special Assistant to the President for Strategic Advancement. This appointment includes his return to the faculty as a Professor of Chemistry.
Dr. Quarless will lead key strategic efforts for SUNY Old Westbury related to the growth and effectiveness of our institution's major academic and student development partnerships. Key among these partnerships are our new and potential college readiness programs with area school districts and the significant growth we expect to achieve in our work with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Northwell Health, and similar regional leaders.
This step is the latest in a nearly 27-year career Dr. Quarless has had on our campus. He has served as Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs since August 2020 after serving in an interim capacity beginning in February of that year. As Provost, he led our campus through the massive adjustments that were required throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure our campus could, to the best of its abilities, keep students moving forward in the pursuit of their studies. Among the many highlights of his tenure as Provost was the expansion of our degree offerings to now include Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Economics, Environmental Studies, Physics, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Other leadership roles he has played on campus across this career at Old Westbury include associate Provost and, prior to his administrative career, chair of the Faculty Senate and professor in the Chemistry and Physics Department.
I look forward to seeing his contribution to our campus continue in this new role. We will gather to recognize Dr. Quarless on Monday, February 27, 2023 from 3:30-4:30 in the Campus Center H311.
Lastly, I hope you will join me in welcoming Dr. Dorothy Escribano as the Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs effective March 1, 2023. Dr. Escribano comes to SUNY Old Westbury with more than 30 years experience as an academic administrator and faculty member. Her most recent roles included Interim President, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs/Chief Planning Officer at The College of New Rochelle. I am excited to introduce and share more about Dr. Escribano next week.
ADDENDUM SENT LATER ON FEBRUARY 23, 2023
SUNY Old Westbury to Conduct National Search
As stated in the earlier announcement, we will be joined by Dr. Dorothy Escribano as our Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on March 1, 2023.
SUNY Old Westbury will conduct a national search to select our next permanent provost and senior vice president.
I look forward to working with the faculty over the course of this calendar year to carefully select our next Academic Affairs leader.