Three Women Scholars Appointed to Provost Positions

Joan Neff was named provost at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, West Virginia. The campus, in the south-central part of the state, enrolls about 1,350 students, according to the latest U.S. Department of Education data. Women are 44 percent of the student body. Dr. Neff has been serving as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Earlier, she served on the faculty at the University of Richmond for more than 30 years. Dr. Neff is a graduate of the University of Delaware. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from Ohio State University.

Robin W. Morgan, a professor of biological sciences, was appointed provost at the University of Delaware. She has been serving as interim provost since October 2017. Dr. Morgan joined the faculty at the university in 1985 as an assistant professor in the department of animal and food science. From 2002 to 2012, Dr. Morgan served as dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware. She holds four U.S. patents on poultry vaccines. Dr. Morgan is a graduate of Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. She holds a Ph.D. in biology from Johns Hopkins University and did postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley.

DeBrenna LaFa Agbenyiga will become provost and vice president of academic affairs at Bowie State University in Maryland on July 9. Since 2015, she has been serving as vice provost, dean of the Graduate School, and as a professor of social work at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Earlier, Dr. Agbenyiga was associate dean for graduate studies and inclusion in the College of Social Science at Michigan State University. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Dr. Agbenyiga holds a master of social work degree, an MBA and a doctorate in social work, all from Michigan State University.