Miami Provost to step down this summer after three years in role
Miami University Provost Elizabeth Mullenix will step down after three years in her role. She led academic affairs through a period of rapid change for higher education.
After serving as Miami University’s Provost for three years, Elizabeth Mullenix is set to step down from her role after the spring semester ends.
In an email obtained by the Oxford Free Press, Mullenix wrote to Miami faculty that she will step down this summer and return to a faculty position in the College of Creative Arts (CCA).
“As I contemplate my last chapter before retirement, I am excited to round out my career as I started it: as a college professor,” Mullenix wrote. “I am so looking forward to returning to my CCA family and students, and can’t wait to get back to work on my book project about Harriett Beecher Stowe and Civil War era theatre and performance.”
Mullenix was chosen as interim provost to replace her predecessor, Jason Osborne, in April 2022. After a national search, she was chosen to retain the position in December 2022. Mullenix joined Miami’s faculty in 2006 as chair and professor of theatre. She stepped in as interim dean of CCA in 2013 before formally moving into the dean position.
In the past three years, Mullenix has overseen Miami’s academic affairs as the university has negotiated a first contract with faculty and librarian unions. Her tenure has also coincided with higher education’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and Miami’s push to restructure and remove low-enrolled programs.
During Mullenix’s time as provost, the university also opened two new academic buildings: the Clinical Health and Wellness Building and McVey Data Science Building. Mullenix and other university leaders have spent the past three years navigating academic changes brought on by the launch of ChatGPT in 2022 and subsequent AI tools in the years since.
"We are grateful to Liz for her longstanding commitment to the university," Miami President Greg Crawford said in a statement published by University Communications. "Her passion for faculty and student success is evident in the many contributions she has made to Miami."
Miami will announce an interim provost later this semester and begin a national search to fill the role permanently, according to Mullenix’s email to faculty. The Free Press has reached out to Mullenix herself for comment.
