The Next Provost at James Madison University in Virginia

Heather Coltman has been chosen as the next provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The university enrolls more than 19,000 undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 graduate students. Women make up 59 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. Coltman currently serves as dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. She joined the faculty at the university in 1993 and was named dean in 2011. Dr. Coltman will assume her new duties at James Madison University on July 1.

Dr. Coltman is a native of Zambia in Africa. She made her debut as a pianist at the age of five and has performed in concerts on five continents. She emigrated to the United States in 1966.

After graduating from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Professor Coltman earned a master degree in music at the Mannes College of Music in New York. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Texas.