New Provost Named for UMass Boston
Chancellor Motley Picks Winston Langley to Fill Permanent Post
(Boston, June 1, 2009) – Chancellor J. Keith Motley today announced the appointment of Winston E. Langley as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Professor Langley, who has served as interim provost since July 2008, will assume his official duties on July 1, 2009. The appointment comes following an extensive search over the past year.
“Professor Langley has contributed to myriad facets of university administration: academic program evaluation, learning outcomes assessment, tenure and promotion, recruitment of senior personnel, budget and long-range planning, and institutional accreditation,” Chancellor Motley said. “He understands the challenges and opportunities that present themselves to public higher education leadership. He also knows first-hand the impact of policy-making on a public university’s capacity to fulfill its educational and service missions.
"In his many roles at UMass Boston, he has helped define our identity as a student-centered, urban public research university, and he is uniquely qualified to help us move forward on that journey,” Chancellor Motley continued. “I look forward with enthusiasm to continuing to work with Professor Langley in his now-formal capacity of provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.”
Professor Langley earned a BA in biology from Atlantic Union College, an MA and a PhD in political science and international relations from Howard University, and a JD from Suffolk University. For over 30 years, more than 25 of which have been as a tenured full professor, he has served in many different capacities in higher education. As a Boston State College professor of political science, he joined UMass Boston in 1982 when the college was incorporated into the university. Throughout his subsequent appointments as director of the International Relations Program, senior associate provost, associate chancellor, and interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, he has remained on the faculty as a professor of political science and international relations.
In announcing the appointment, Chancellor Motley noted Professor Langley’s scholarship and broad academic background, his commitment to pursuing an aggressive research agenda, and commitment to long-term faculty and student development.
About UMass Boston
With a growing reputation for innovative research addressing complex urban issues, the University of Massachusetts Boston, metropolitan Boston’s only public university, offers its diverse student population both an intimate learning environment and the rich experience of a great American city. UMass Boston’s seven colleges and graduate schools serve more than 14,000 students while engaging local, national, and international constituents through academic programs, research centers, and public service activities. To learn more about UMass Boston, visit www.umb.edu