Vice provost headed to WWU
Central Michigan University's vice provost of academic affairs Catherine Riordan Tuesday was named provost and vice president of academic affairs at Western Washington University.
Riordan has been at CMU since 2001 and was one of three finalists in an "extensive nationwide search" for the position at Western Washington.
"Catherine Riordan has the vision, leadership, knowledge and breadth of experience to be a great lift for Western. I am delighted she will be joining the Western community and look forward to working with her," said Western Washington president Bruce Shepherd in a prepared statement on Thursday.
Western Washington is located in Bellingham, Wash., and had a 2008 enrollment of 13,777 full- and part-time students with 735 faculty and a 2009 state operating budget of $127,795,197.
Riordan will succeed Dennis Murphy, who has served as dean since 2007. She will begin her new duties in August.
Riordan said she felt Western Washington was comparable to CMU in that they are both "strong universities."
"I'm mostly interested in pursuing the position of provost," she said. "The responsibilities of the position are broader than that of my current position."
Riordan previously served as assistant to the chancellor for Affirmative Action at the University of Missouri-Rolla and also director of Management Systems from 1991-2000. Riordan was named vice provost of Academic Affairs at CMU in 2001.
She said she will miss her co-workers at CMU.
"The people I work with most closely is the thing I will miss most," Riordan said. "There are a lot of people in that category."
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