Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State soon will begin a national search to identify a new provost, university President Mark Keenum announced Thursday.
"Dr. Peter Rabideau has announced his intention to return full-time to the faculty as a professor of chemistry, and I respect his decision," Keenum said, adding that Rabideau has agreed to continue in his current position through December.
"His willingness to provide this continuity will allow us to conduct a deliberate and thorough search for MSU's chief academic officer," Keenum said. "We appreciate Dr. Rabideau's contributions to the university over his six-year tenure as provost, and the entire university owes him a debt of gratitude."
Rabideau came to Mississippi State in 2003 from Iowa State University, where he was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has provided leadership for the university's eight academic colleges, with oversight for academic programs and services, institutional effectiveness of academic programs, and faculty recruitment and development.
Rabideau also oversaw an expansion of the honors program into the Shackouls Honors College, implemented the Center for Teaching and Learning and instituted new academic programs that included the university's African-American studies concentration, among others.
A Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, he received a bachelor's degree from Loyola University of Chicago, and master's and doctoral degrees from Case Western Reserve University. He has held appointments with the American Chemical Society and Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences.
Keenum said the university will begin the process this summer of organizing a national search and "will work toward filling the position by the start of the 2010 spring semester."
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.