Dear Members of the University Community,

After a comprehensive national search with a remarkably strong pool of candidates, I am very pleased to announce Lisa Kloppenberg as our next provost. Lisa will assume the role of provost and vice president for academic affairs on March 1.  

Many of you know Lisa as previous dean of the Law School and more recently as our interim provost. An experienced and acknowledged national expert in mediation and conflict resolution, Lisa has garnered a reputation as a proven leader and compassionate listener. As dean, Lisa astutely guided the Law School through one of the most challenging decades in legal education, addressing head-on national enrollment challenges while making strategic investments that positioned the school for long-term success. While serving as interim provost for the past eight months, Lisa has shown an admirable combination of collegiality, decisiveness, and concern for the greater good of our faculty, staff, and students.

In Lisa, I find a partner who shares my commitment to the academic enterprise which is at the heart of our University. Moreover, she models a deep and genuine commitment to our Jesuit, Catholic values as inclusive and capacious. In the years ahead, I will rely on her wise counsel, imaginative vision, strategic thinking, and collaborative skills as together we strive to make a Santa Clara education more accessible and affordable and build a campus culture marked by deep respect, transparency, clarity of communication, and generosity.

For more about Lisa, see the press release.

I want to thank the Provost Search Committee for their hard work throughout this time-intensive search. The committee served the University well and saw the search through to a successful conclusion. I am grateful to each of the committee members: Kate Morris (co-chair), George Chacko (co-chair), Silvia Figueira, Andrew Garavel, S.J., Rebecca Guerra, Katie Heintz, Chase Larscheid, Liz Quevedo, Brett Solomon, Eric Tillman, and David Yosifon. Anne McMahon from my office offered invaluable support to the committee.

Please join me in welcoming Lisa as our next Provost. In a sign of hospitality and welcome, we will hold a reception to honor Lisa on Monday, February 10, 2020 at 4 p.m. in Walsh Administration Building.

Sincerely,

Kevin F. O'Brien, S.J.
President