Three Women Scholars Appointed to Provost Positions

Elizabeth Dumont has been named provost and executive vice chancellor of the University of California, Merced. She is a professor of life and environmental sciences, and has been dean of the university’s School of Natural Sciences since 2017.

Dr. Dumont has a background in both administrative and academic positions including serving as a professor and senior vice provost for faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and faculty appointments at Northeast Ohio Medical University, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Indiana University, as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in physical anthropology from Stony Brook University in New York.

Xavier University in Louisiana has officially selected Marguerite S. Giguette as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, a role she has held on an interim basis for the past year. She previously served the university’s Office for Academic Affairs for 17 years as the senior associate provost and chief institutional research officer. A member of the faculty since 1990, Dr. Giguette has held other various roles at Xavier including chair of the computer science department and associate vice president for academic affairs.

Dr. Giguette held previous academic appointments at Loyola University and Tulane University, both located in Louisiana. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Loyola, a master’s degree in mathematics from Texas A&M University, and Ph.D. in computer science from Tulane.

Margaret Brown Marsden has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs at Midwestern State University in Texas. Dr. Brown Marsden has been serving as interim provost since January 2023. Prior to stepping into the interim role, Dr. Brown Marsden was dean of the university’s McCoy College of Science, Mathematics, and Engineering.

Before joining the faculty at Midwestern State University, Dr. Brown Marsden served as a biology professor, chair of the biology department, and associate dean of the Constantin College of Liberal Arts at the University of Dallas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Dallas and a Ph.D. in biological sciences, ecology, and evolutionary biology from Purdue University in Indiana. Additionally, Dr. Brown Marsden holds an MBA from Texas A&M University Commerce.