University of Scranton Names New Provost

University of Scranton Interim President Rev. Herbert B. Keller, S.J., announced the appointment of Jeff Gingerich, Ph.D., as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs effective July 1, 2018.

The University’s President-elect, Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., endorsed the selection of Dr. Gingerich, which followed a national search conducted by a broadly representative search committee chaired by Matthew Haggerty, Esq., University trustee.

Dr. Gingerich currently serves as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cabrini University, a Catholic liberal arts institution in Radnor. In his current role, he serves as the chief academic officer overseeing four colleges and schools offering more than 35 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs.

In addition to serving as chief academic officer, Dr. Gingerich has held responsibility for many cross-divisional institutional priorities at Cabrini, including revision of the core curriculum, diversity initiatives and mission integration. He also led a successful Middle States self-study accreditation process, the development of a one-stop student services center, an evaluation of the faculty governance structure, and a campus-wide strategic planning effort on both leadership development and global studies.  In 2016, he led Cabrini’s transition to University status and the academic reorganization to create four new schools.

During his tenure, Cabrini launched its first doctoral programs, new graduate programs and online modalities for student access. An avid believer in interdisciplinary learning, he co-led the establishment of the Nerney Leadership Institution in 2014 and, most recently, worked closely with deans and faculty to found four new mission-focused academic centers.

“Dr. Gingerich is an experienced and distinguished administrator, professor and scholar,” Fr. Keller said. “Fr. Pilarz and I are delighted that the University has identified a person whose innovative approach to higher education is matched only by his commitment to student success and social justice. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated well the very qualities we hope to instill in our students through Scranton’s distinctive Catholic and Jesuit education.”

The provost and senior vice president for academic affairs serves as the University’s chief academic officer and oversees all of Scranton’s academic programs, policies and priorities. The provost is also a key partner with the president in all major campus initiatives.

Dr. Gingerich earned master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career at Bluffton University as an assistant and later associate professor of sociology from 2000 to 2004. He joined the faculty at Cabrini in 2005 as an associate professor of sociology and was named department chair in 2007. In 2009, he moved to administrative positions serving as dean for academic affairs and vice provost and dean for academic affairs before taking his current position in 2014.

Much of his life’s work prior to entering higher education was shaped by six years as a voluntary service worker in New Orleans, La., coordinating conflict resolution programming at the Twomey Center for Peace through Justice at Loyola University.  These experiences inspired his research and teaching interests in race and ethnic relations, cultural analysis, prisoner reentry, and incarceration reform. During that time, he also taught courses in cultural awareness and conflict resolution for officers and trainees of the New Orleans Police Department. While pursuing his master’s and doctoral degrees, he was a facilitator in the Restorative Justice Program at Graterford State Prison, Philadelphia.

His scholarship is currently focused on the sociology of higher education with research exploring the changing role of the chief academic officer. He is also co-executive editor of the new journal, Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice, a scholarly journal founded to advance the intersection of theory and practice in the pursuit of social justice through Catholic social tradition and other religious traditions of social justice (first issue to be released Spring 2018).

He has led several successful grant projects at Cabrini including a Title III grant to strengthen undergraduate learning, a National Science Foundation Grant focused on science scholars and social justice, and a Department of Education grant to support the development of global competencies. In addition, at the request of the general superior of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC), Dr. Gingerich recently led the Cabrini Education Commission to plan for the oversight of the 28 MSC schools around the world.

Active in every community in which he has lived, Dr. Gingerich volunteers at the Norristown Hospitality Center and has held board positions with the Centre Theater of Norristown.

Dr. Gingerich, and his wife, Betsy, are the parents of five children.