Four candidates for the Western Illinois University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs position have been selected to visit WIU’s campuses in March and April.
Candidates include Shadow Robinson, dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Martin, March 29 (Macomb) & Mach 30 (QC); Raphael Onyeaghala, dean of the College of Business, Education and Professional Studies at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, April 7 (Macomb) & April 8 (QC); Scott McKay, dean of arts and sciences at University of Texas Permian Basis, April 20 (Macomb) & April 21 (QC); and Manoochehr Zoghi, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science at Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN, May 2 (Macomb) and May 3 (QC).
Open sessions with each candidate will be held in Macomb and the Quad Cities via Zoom at 2:45 p.m. (Macomb) and 11:15 a.m. (Quad Cities) on their respective interview dates. Individuals interested in participating must register in advance at https://form.jotform.com/220656125753152.
Robinson has served as the dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences at the University of Tennessee at Martin since 2018. He also has served in the interim chair of the Department of Engineering from 2019-2020. Previously, he was the director of the Compass Curriculum at Millsaps College in Jackson, MS (2016-2018), the director of the James Observatory (2016-2018), physics department chair (2011-2018) and director of pre-engineering and dual degree engineering (2009-2018).
Robinson has also been a professor of physics at University of Tennessee at Martin since 2018, and was a professor of physics and associate professor of physics at Millsaps. He earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky.
Onyeaghala has served as the dean of the College of Business, Education and Professional Studies at Southwest Minnesota State (SMS) since June 2011. Previously, he was the chair of the Department of Business and Public Affairs at SMS from 2008-2011. He also served in other leadership positions at Southwest Minnesota, including director of Business Graduate Programs (2006-2008) and coordinator of the Agribusiness Management Program (2002-2011). Onyeaghala has served as a professor of agribusiness management since 2011. He joined the SMS faculty as an assistant professor in 2002. Onyeaghala has also taught economics at the University of Nebraska-Kearney (1999-2001). He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his master’s degree from the University of London, Wye College, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, respectively.
Zoghi has served as the dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science at Purdue University Fort Wayne since July 2016. He has also been a member of the graduate faculty since 2016. Zoghi has served in numerous leadership positions at California State University Fresno, including associate dean and professor, Lyles College of Engineering (2010-2014), founding chair and professor, Department of Construction Management (2009-2016) and interim chair and professor, department of mechanical engineering (2011-2012). He was the founding chair and professor, department of civil and environmental engineering at Idaho State (2007-2009), the director of graduate programs, department of civil and environmental engineering and engineering mechanics, at the University of Dayton, along with other leadership and faculty roles at institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
Zoghi earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati, an MBA from the San Francisco School of Architecture, and a master’s and bachelor’s from the University of Louisville.
McKay has served as the dean of arts and sciences at University of Texas-PB since 2019. He also was the interim associate vice president of research at University of Texas-PB from 2019-2020. Previously, he served as the provost/vice president of academic affairs at Dakota State University from 2017-2019. McKay has also been the dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Southern Arkansas University (2011-2017); and department chair of biochemistry, chemistry and physics (2009-2011), director and founder of the Center for Alternative Fuels and Environmental Systems (2008-2011) and assistant/associate/full professor (1999-2011) at the University of Central Missouri.
McKay earned his Ph.D. from the Florida Institute of Technology, and his master’s and two bachelor’s degrees from Eastern Kentucky University.
The provost and vice president for academic affairs serves as the chief academic officer of the University with responsibility for academic and internal leadership. The provost reports directly to the president and is the primary representative of the president in his absence. The provost leads the University-wide community to promote the highest academic standards and the University’s core values at both the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses; provides leadership in planning, developing, implementing and assessing all academic programs; has primary responsibility for contract administration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for faculty and support staff and a significant portion of the University budget; provides overall leadership for continued growth of international and life-long learning programs, distance education, faculty development and the Honors College; and supervises senior staff and many service areas that are responsible for achieving the University’s established major goals identified by the president and the Board of Trustees.
Complete candidate interview schedules and vitas are available at wiu.edu/employment.
***Report Courtesy of Western Illinois University***
