Patricia Prelock has been selected to serve as interim president of the University of Vermont.
According to the most recent Department of Education data, the University of Vermont enrolls about 12,000 undergraduate and more than 2,000 graduate students. Women represent nearly two-thirds of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Prelock has been a member of the University of Vermont faculty for over three decades. Since 2019, she has served as provost and senior vice president, overseeing all academic operations. Prior to her current role, she spent several years as dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and chair of the department of communication sciences. In addition to her leadership roles, she is a professor of communication sciences and disorders and a professor of pediatrics in the College of Medicine.
An expert on the nature and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, Dr. Prelock conducts extensive research on the role of social communication and perspective-taking as important components of social cognition. Throughout her career, she has been awarded over $24 million in grant funding and authored more than 200 scholarly publications. She is the member of several scientific professional organizations and is a past-president of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
“I am honored to serve UVM as interim president and appreciate the trust placed in me by the board,” said Dr. Prelock. “I am certain that we will maintain the positive momentum of recent years as we navigate together toward a presidential leadership transition. UVM’s students are always my highest priority, and I look forward to leading continued collaboration with my valued colleagues across the university to ensure their success.”
Dr. Prelock received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Kent State University in Ohio. She holds a Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.