The Board of Regents has selected current Provost Herbert Medina as interim president of the University. The long-awaited announcement came in a post on the UP website, months after Fr. Mark Poorman announced his resignation.
“We are grateful that Dr. Medina has accepted this acting presidency as enthusiastically prepare to resume an active campus life and a normal academic year this fall,” University Board of Regents Chair Thomas Arndorfer said in the announcement.
Fr. Jim Lies was originally appointed as interim president, but decided not to accept the position,
Medina has been at UP since 2018, serving first as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as professor of mathematics and then as the Provost since July 2020. Before UP, Medina worked for 26 years at Loyola Marymount University.
Although there has never been a president in UP’s history that wasn’t associated with the Catholic Church, there have been interim presidents who have not. The most recent example was in 1989 when Arthur Schulte was named acting president after president Thomas Oddo was killed in a car accident.
In his time as Provost, Medina has prioritized working with students and intends to continue that in his new position.
“There’s much work to do as we come out of the pandemic, and I am looking forward to collaborating with students, staff, faculty, university leadership and Board members to make sure we emerge a stronger institution from these very challenging times,” Media said in the announcement.
William Seekamp is the News and Managing Editor of The Beacon. He can be reached at Seekamp22@up.edu.
