Provost Herbert Medina, who served as interim President from 2021-22, is back in the classroom teaching calculus. After resigning his Provost position in the middle of Winter break, he has resumed his passion for teaching this 2023 Spring semester.
The official announcement came in an email from President Robert D. Kelly, where Medina offered a reflection expressing gratitude for the opportunities of leadership he has assumed while at UP and thinks it’s time for a change of pace.
“Recent years have been exceptionally busy and challenging,” Medina said in the email. “ ... and while I am proud of all that we achieved together, I am ready to once again engage more fully in my professional passion, which has always been serving students directly as a member of the faculty.”
The decision to step down didn’t come easily, but Medina is enthusiastic about being back as an educator.
“I thought about it a lot,” Medina told The Beacon. “I felt it was the right time for me to be a professor of mathematics … I'm really an educator at heart and being able to connect with students more fully is something that is my professional passion.”
Associate Provost Elise Moentmann, has been appointed as the interim Provost by Kelly and has been working closely with Medina in this time of transition. Kelly is confident that she will be a great fit for the position while the search for a new Provost ensues.
“Dr. Moentmann is a recipient of the James Culligan Award, the highest honor UP bestows upon its faculty members.” Kelly said in the announcement. “She is among our institution’s most trusted and respected leaders.”
Moentmann will be returning to her position as Associate Provost once her tenure as interim Provost has ended.
In the email announcement, Kelly praised Medina’s work during a crucial transitional time for the University in the announcement
“Since 2018, Dr. Medina has provided remarkable leadership to the University in his roles as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Provost and Acting President,” Kelly said. “In each of these positions, he has been an advocate for student success, a supporter of academic excellence and innovation and an ambassador for our educational enterprise.”
Kelly recounts Medina’s role in guiding the University’s response to COVID-19, overseeing changes in UP’s core curriculum, providing strategic planning and accreditation leadership, forging new partnerships with grant-making and community organizations and helped to secure benefaction for the institution.
As for right now, Medina is considering his options while lecturing on campus.
“I'm still in the discernment process trying to figure out what comes next for me right now,” Medina said. “I want to focus on being the best professor I can be at this time.”
Brie Haro is the Editor-in-Chief at The Beacon and can be reached at haro23@up.edu
