Oldham named new provost
Katherine McGehee
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: News
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By Katherine McGehee
News Editor
Philip Oldham will take over as Provost July 1 from Herbert Burhenn, acting Provost, according to university administrators.
"[Dr. Oldham] made himself stand out by his experience," Fran Bender, professor in the English department and head of the Provost search committee, said. "Specifically, he has been a department head for five years and a dean for six years in the college of arts and sciences at Mississippi State.
Philip Oldham, who is currently the dean of the college of arts and sciences and a professor of analytical chemistry at Mississippi State University, said: "I have a lot of experience as a faculty member and as a dean of a very diverse campus."
Oldham continued: "I'm a native Tennessean. I understand the dynamics of Southern culture, and I understand what current students and faculty are interested in."
Bender said there were many factors that contributed to their selection of Oldham.
"He said during an interview that he considers himself a faculty member, … and he still maintains an active research agenda, which we thought was important," Bender said.
"He puts students first, which we like, and we knew the students would like," Bender said. "He said 'students first, faculty are second."
Bender said Oldham's not afraid to take a chance or a risk to try an idea that has worked at other campuses and might work at UTC.
"For example, he heard about a program at Virginia Tech called the Math Emporium, which had a math lab that was open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week." Bender said. "He heard about this and he actually went to Virginia Tech's campus, observed it, and brought that idea back to Mississippi State, where they have what is called the Math Domain, but it's the same idea."
"The faculty are there during normal working hours, and graduate students are there otherwise," Bender said. "It increased their success rate in math by over 30 percent."
News Editor
Philip Oldham will take over as Provost July 1 from Herbert Burhenn, acting Provost, according to university administrators.
"[Dr. Oldham] made himself stand out by his experience," Fran Bender, professor in the English department and head of the Provost search committee, said. "Specifically, he has been a department head for five years and a dean for six years in the college of arts and sciences at Mississippi State.
Philip Oldham, who is currently the dean of the college of arts and sciences and a professor of analytical chemistry at Mississippi State University, said: "I have a lot of experience as a faculty member and as a dean of a very diverse campus."
Oldham continued: "I'm a native Tennessean. I understand the dynamics of Southern culture, and I understand what current students and faculty are interested in."
Bender said there were many factors that contributed to their selection of Oldham.
"He said during an interview that he considers himself a faculty member, … and he still maintains an active research agenda, which we thought was important," Bender said.
"He puts students first, which we like, and we knew the students would like," Bender said. "He said 'students first, faculty are second."
Bender said Oldham's not afraid to take a chance or a risk to try an idea that has worked at other campuses and might work at UTC.
"For example, he heard about a program at Virginia Tech called the Math Emporium, which had a math lab that was open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week." Bender said. "He heard about this and he actually went to Virginia Tech's campus, observed it, and brought that idea back to Mississippi State, where they have what is called the Math Domain, but it's the same idea."
"The faculty are there during normal working hours, and graduate students are there otherwise," Bender said. "It increased their success rate in math by over 30 percent."
