Chemistry professor and experienced leader Mary K. Boyd, of Austin, Texas, has been named provost at Berry College.
As the college’s chief academic officer, Boyd will lead the Dean’s Council and oversee the faculty, curriculum, library, and academic support services. She will also help guide the college’s strategic planning and implementation efforts. She will join Berry March 20.
According to President Steve Briggs, Boyd stood out because of her balanced strengths: “Boyd has a keen analytical mind and is also relationally gifted; she listens and is a person of action; she is both principled and pragmatic.” He added that “she cares deeply about student success in an increasingly diverse society and understands how to support faculty in the vital role of teacher-mentor-scholar.”
Boyd was selected through a competitive national search with the assistance of the executive search firm CarterBaldwin.
""I am honored and privileged to join Berry College as the new provost,” Boyd said. “Berry provides an outstanding education with a commitment to the liberal arts, academic excellence, and a strong work program that educates the head, heart and hands. I look forward to working with the faculty and the entire Berry community to enhance academic quality and strengthen the integration of challenging academic programs with meaningful applied learning experiences.”
Boyd has served previously as vice president of academic affairs at St. Edward’s University in Austin (2013-2016), and as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of San Diego (2008-2013.) She was chairwoman of Georgia Southern University’s Department of Chemistry (2005-2008), and taught in Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Chemistry (1990-2005.)
Educated as an organic chemist, Boyd has published 19 research articles in science journals. She was elected to the Executive Committee of the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry in 2008 and currently serves as chair. In 2015, Boyd was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.
Boyd has B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from the University of Toronto and was a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the State University of New York Stony Brook.
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Written by Public Relations
