Pardie named UIS Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Lynn Pardie has been selected from among a pool of over 70 candidates from across the U.S. to become the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). The Provost is the university’s chief academic officer, the second highest administrative position in the university, and is responsible to the Chancellor for the implementation of the academic priorities of the university.

Pardie has been serving in that position on an interim basis since January of 2011. Pending approval of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its May meeting, she will assume the permanent position of vice chancellor and provost on July 1, 2012.

“I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to appoint an outstanding academic leader to this important position at UIS,” said Chancellor Susan J. Koch. “As interim provost, Dr. Pardie has navigated a number of challenges with great professionalism and has proved to be a quick study on every issue. She has done a magnificent job as interim provost.”

A native of Muscatine, Iowa, Pardie is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa where she was awarded a degree in Psychology with Highest Distinction and received the Ernest R. Johnson Memorial Prize for Academic Standing. She also holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Pardie joined the faculty of the University of Illinois Springfield in 1989 and is a tenured professor in the Psychology Department.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been selected to serve as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost. It’s an honor and a privilege to work on behalf of an institution like UIS,” said Pardie. “I have deep appreciation and respect for the faculty and staff here -- they’re truly committed to our students and to delivering the highest quality of education. It’s been my great pleasure to work with Chancellor Koch since she arrived, and I look forward to continuing to work with her and the faculty and staff to advance academic affairs at UIS.”

Pardie has received a number of academic awards, including the UIS Faculty Excellence Award, which is given to faculty members who best exemplify the ideal of the teacher-scholar model and who are recognized as role models by their peers.

Pardie's administrative career encompasses ten years of progressively responsible appointments, including Chair of the Psychology Department, Interim Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education & Research.

“I am deeply grateful to committee chair, Professor Mike Miller and to all twenty-one search committee members who fulfilled their charge to provide an outstanding pool of finalists,” said Chancellor Koch. “In their assessment of Dr. Pardie’s candidacy, the search committee noted among many positive attributes, her high level of respect in the campus community, her long record of integrity and fair-mindedness, her ability to get up ‘up to speed’ quickly on complicated issues and her ability to research problems and bring data to bear on difficult decisions. Having worked with Dr. Pardie as interim provost for the past several months, I certainly agree with the search committee’s assessment.”

The University of Illinois Springfield serves approximately 5,000 students in 44 undergraduate and graduate programs in four colleges, with 208 full-time faculty, 530 staff and an annual operating budget of $82.5 million.

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The University of Illinois is a world leader in research and discovery, the largest educational institution in the state with more than 76,000 students, 2,400 faculty and staff, and campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. The U of I awards more than 19,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees annually.