A Trio of Women Appointed to Provost Positions at Colleges and Universities

Carolyn Kapinus is the new executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at Texas Woman’s University. She has served in these roles on an interim basis since May 2019. Earlier, she was dean of the Graduate School at Texas Woman’s University. Before coming to Texas in 2017, Dr. Kapinus was dean of the Graduate School and interim associate vice president for research at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Dr. Kapinus is a graduate of Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from Pennsylvania State University.

Susan M. Collins was named acting provost at the University of Michigan. She is the Edward M. Gramlich Collegiate Professor of Public Policy and a professor of economics at the university. From 2007 to 2017,  Professor Collins served as dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Earlier, Dr. Collins was on the economics faculty at Georgetown University and Harvard University. She was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and is a past president of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. Professor Collins is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Karen Soul was appointed provost and dean of the college at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr. Soul has served in these roles on an interim basis since July 2019. The college enrolls about 600 students. Women make up 57 percent of the undergraduate student body.

Dr. Soul came to Centenary College in 2003 as an instructor in the education department, and advanced to the position of vice provost for academic affairs in 2012. She earned a  bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education with a concentration in language arts at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas.