Joseph Glover selected as UArizona provost
Joseph Glover, who previously served as provost at the University of Florida, will be the University of Arizona's next senior vice president of academic affairs and provost, leading the academic enterprise of the university. His appointment begins on July 1.
Glover, a mathematician, stepped down from his provost role in Gainesville in July 2023 after serving in the position for 15 years. During his tenure at Florida – which, like UArizona, is a land-grant university – Glover helped oversee UF's ascent to a top-five school in U.S. News & World Report's ranking of U.S. public institutions.
Glover also helped expand UF's annual research expenditures beyond $1 billion and led UF's AI initiative to make the university a leader in teaching students across disciplines the skills to use artificial intelligence ethically. He also led initiatives that contributed to the hiring of more than 600 faculty members, including 100 focused on AI, and helped implement a new budget model for UF.
"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," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins. "Having spent the majority of his career at a highly ranked, public, land-grant research university with a mission very similar to our own, Dr. Glover is uniquely qualified to advance the University of Arizona mission while addressing the challenges we face as an institution. His experience and knowledge will be instrumental in shaping our collective future as a university."
Glover's appointment comes after a months-long national search for UArizona's new provost. That process included Robbins' convening a 19-member search committee, comprised of faculty, staff and students from across campus. Alain-Philippe Durand, dean of the College of Humanities, and Joellen Russell, University Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Geosciences, were the committee's co-chairs. Ronald W. Marx, dean emeritus for the College of Education, has served as interim senior vice president and provost since July 1, 2023.
"The University of Arizona is an extraordinary land-grant institution with a rich heritage and limitless potential, and I am honored to have the opportunity to work with an outstanding faculty and staff community to foster academic excellence, innovation and inclusivity," Glover said. "I want to thank President Robbins and the search committee, co-chaired by A-P Durand and Joellen Russell, for their confidence. I look forward to joining with them and our diverse student body to build strong relationships that capitalize on our strengths, power progress, and make a positive impact."
Before going into administrative leadership, Glover was a professor of mathematics and later chair of the Department of Mathematics at UF. He was recognized numerous times for teaching, mentorship and service by UF and other institutions.
"We have a lot of tremendous talent at the University of Arizona, and I'm just thrilled we had such high caliber candidates," Russell said. "Dr. Glover recognized our potential and is choosing to join us from one of the top public universities in the country, bringing excellent experience along with him."
Glover earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, San Diego, with expertise in probability theory and stochastic processes. He has served as principal investigator on a series of grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Security Agency, and he has been involved with national leadership of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.