Marymount Names Dr. William J. Ehmann as Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management

Marymount University has named Dr. William J. Ehmann as its new provost and vice president for academic affairs and enrollment management.
 
Dr. Ehmann has worked at several public and private universities, both as a tenured professor of biology and an administrator. He has served as interim associate provost at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York, since July after having served as associate provost there from 2009-2012. During that time he led academic program development and planning and was responsible for a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that focused on retention and success for Hispanic graduate students.

“We’re excited to welcome Dr. Ehmann to the Marymount University community,” said President Matthew D. Shank in making the announcement. “In addition to his outstanding academic background and work as an administrator, he has a proven track record in mentoring underrepresented populations in STEM fields and is dedicated to the mission of Catholic higher education.”

Ehmann will assume the post on June 1. Dr. Rita Wong currently serves as Marymount’s acting provost.

As chief academic officer of the university, the provost provides the leadership required to achieve the highest standards in teaching, scholarship, creative endeavors, and service. The provost is a key participant in all major university policy, establishing, coordinating and implementing academic goals, curriculum planning and development, program review, funding support, resource allocation and assuring a vibrant faculty and academic staff cohort.

“I am very happy to be joining President Shank’s leadership team,” Ehmann said. “Marymount University’s commitment to inclusive excellence, the whole person, and student success resonates strongly with me. I can’t wait to be on campus meeting and talking with everyone about the great and enduring work we can do together.”

Ehmann has also served on the faculty of Drake University and has held administrative positions at Northland College, Empire State College and Plattsburgh State University in the State University of New York System.

He earned his doctorate in biology from Utah State University, a master’s degree in geological sciences from Brown University and a bachelor of science degree in earth sciences from the University of Notre Dame. He also holds an executive certificate in transformational non-profit leadership from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. From 2012 to 2016 he was associate provost for Research and Graduate Education and a professor of biology at Seattle University, where he received a $2.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help recruit and retain women faculty in STEM.

He is an expert in community ecology and has published on topics that range from natural sciences to education and virtue ethics. In January, he will complete the 18-month Ignatian Colleagues Program, designed to educate and form administrators and faculty more deeply in the Jesuit and Catholic tradition of higher education.

The move to the Washington, D.C., area is a bit of a homecoming for Ehmann, whose first professional job was as a geologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior based in Reston. His first academic post was at Trinity University, where he served as an assistant professor of environmental science.

“I lived just a few blocks from the Blue Goose for three years,” he said.

He enjoys hiking, fishing and travel, and looks forward to birding on the Chesapeake Bay.