Allyson L. Watson will assume the role of interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida A&M University. She will be responsible for overseeing all matters pertaining to the university’s academic programs, activities, and support services.
Dr. Watson was named dean of the College of Education at Florida A&M University in 2019. Before coming to Florida A&M, she was dean of the College of Education at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Earlier, Dr. Watson spent nearly 14 years on the faculty at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where she held the
Dr. Watson has focused her research on urban education, faculty of color in higher education, and urban school and university partnerships. She is a full professor and tenured graduate faculty with a substantial amount of teaching experience in courses such as educational research, advanced educational measurements and statistics, public school relations, and instructional strategies.
Dr. Watson holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational administration, curriculum, and supervision from the University of Oklahoma
Anne D’Alleva was appointed provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Connecticut. She has been interim provost since May 2022. Dr. D’Alleva is the first woman to serve as provost at the University of Connecticut.
From 2015 to 2022, Dr. D’Alleva was dean of the School of Fine Arts at the university. She first joined the university’s faculty in the fall of 1999 with a joint appointment in art history and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.
“Over the past few months, I’ve gained fresh insight into the many strengths of our university community and especially appreciate the talent, dedication, and caring of our faculty, students, and staff,” Dr. D’Alleva said. “My goal as provost is to support and enhance those strengths as we work together to educate our students for an interconnected, diverse, and rapidly changing world; expand scholarship and research across the disciplines; and serve the state and nation by addressing our most pressing problems, from health disparities to climate change.”
Dr. D’Alleva earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Harvard University. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University.
Barbara E. Wolfe will be the new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Rhode Island. She will begin her new job on January 1.
For the past six years, Dr. Wolfe was been dean of the College of Nursing at the university. Earlier, she had been a professor and associate dean for research at the Connell School of Nursing at Boston College. She also served as a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and was president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
Dr. Wolfe stated that “I am energized by the growing scholarship and creative works across the campus, providing endless student learning opportunities while also positioning the university to be a preeminent institution of higher learning with local and global impact. My experience at the university has given me a great appreciation of the formidable strength of URI, its growing international reputation, and the endless exciting possibilities that lie ahead.”
Dr. Wolfe is a nursing graduate of Syracuse University in New York. She holds a master’s degree in psychiatric mental health nursing from Yale University and a Ph.D. in nursing from Boston College.