University of Arizona announces provost pick

Joseph Glover, the former head of academic affairs at the University of Florida, will serve as the University of Arizona’s next provost.

“Dr. Glover’s experience and priorities as a leader reflect our university values, and his track record of academic excellence, faculty support and collaborative leadership will benefit our students, faculty, staff and community,” UA President Robert C. Robbins wrote in an email to campus on Friday morning.

Glover will begin his tenure on July 1. His salary is $550,000 and his contract will be evaluated yearly.

He was arguably the most well-known of the three finalists for the role because of his 15-year stint as provost at the University of Florida. He stepped down from that role in 2023 to serve as a senior advisor to the university’s new president, former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse.

The decision was between Glover and Marie Hardin, the dean of the College of Communications at Pennsylvania State University. The other finalist, Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, dropped out of the search after accepting the provostship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“Dr. Glover is uniquely qualified to advance the University of Arizona’s mission while addressing the challenges we face as an institution,” Robbins wrote. “His experience and knowledge will be instrumental in shaping our collective future as a university.”

The choice will most likely divide faculty — more than 100 faculty members sent an email to UA senior leadership urging them to pick Hardin for the provostship last week, in response to a smaller group of around 40 faculty writing a similar letter in support of Glover.

The pro-Glover group wrote to university leadership that there should be “quick action” to hire the candidate.

“A candidate this appealing might well have other opportunities,” they wrote.

In a letter arguing against Glover’s hire, the more than 100 professors, lecturers, department heads and faculty senators wrote that he “seems unduly focused on rankings” and that “he did not impress us as an effective communicator internally.”

“His time with department heads was off-putting in regard to his not believing a provost should have much contact or interaction with them, demonstrating an apparent lack of understanding or commitment to the collective work,” the faculty wrote. “He seems to be a divisive candidate who will generate open resistance across a broad swath of the campus faculty and academic leadership.”

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In a statement to the Star, the Arizona Board of Regents shared that “the provost search committee — representing a broad array of colleges, disciplines, and perspectives — recommended two quality candidates.”

According to ABOR, “Dr. Glover is a distinguished scholar and academic leader who has a commitment to research and community engagement.”

The move to Arizona will be a new experience for Glover, who after brief stints at the University of California Berkeley and the University of Rochester, was hired by the University of Florida in 1982. He’s been at the university for 40 years.

During his presentation to community members earlier this month, Glover said he stayed at the UF as provost for 15 years (the average provost term lasts just five) because he “actually enjoyed the work.”

While provost, the UF was named the No. 5 public university in the country in 2022 by the U.S. News and World Report. It is currently tied for No. 6 — the UA sits at No. 115 on the same list.

Glover spearheaded the UF’s AI initiative and oversaw the birth of the UF Online program, which, according to an article released by the university in 2023, is ranked No. 1 among online baccalaureate programs. That experience will help him in his new role, especially after the UA announced its new AI degree program and while it works out the kinks of the UA Global Campus project.

Danaya Wright, the Faculty Senate chair at the UF, told the Star in a statement that Glover’s “attitude tends to lead to siloes and competition among units,” but said that he “values community” and believes his “dry sense of humor will harmonize” at the UA.

“His recent AI initiative here at UF has convinced him of the importance of cross-collaboration and breaking down barriers, which is going to be important in this next phase of higher ed transformation,” she wrote.

Last year, the UF Faculty Senate passed a resolution recognizing “Provost Joe Glover’s most commendable service to the faculty of the University of Florida.”

While at the UF, Glover was not immune to controversy. According to articles from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Glover, alongside then-UF President W. Kent Fuchs, declined to enact mask or vaccine mandates in 2021 because of threats to their jobs. Additionally, the outlet reported, Glover did not support “critical studies of race.”