Dr. Debra Leibowitz to be new university provost
Dr. Debra J. Liebowitz – photo credit Lynne Delade of Drew University.
April 23, 2020
The Quinnipiac administration has named Dr. Debra J. Liebowitz as the university’s new provost.
In an email sent to students on Thursday, Quinnipiac President Judy Olian announced that Liebowitz’s will take over for interim Provost Jennifer Brown on July 15. Brown will return this summer as dean of the School of Law.
Dr. Liebowitz will serve on the university’s management committee. Each school’s dean and other academic officials will report to her.
Due to the increasing size of the university, a chief student experience officer position has been created to allow the provost to solely focus on academic and scholarly work in the school’s administration.
Olian described Dr. Liebowitz as “an innovative leader with an impactful record of creating partnerships and launching initiatives that enable university growth, promote diversity, strengthen shared governance, and build civic engagement and immersive learning opportunities.”
Liebowitz is coming to Quinnipiac University from Drew University where she currently serves as provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Caspersen School of Graduate Studies. During her time at Drew, Liebowitz was awarded the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Center for Civic Engagement’s Faculty Leadership Award.
Alongside her work as provost and dean, Olian explained how Liebowitz helped create a networking hub, and action planner platform at Drew called Launch.
“Undoubtedly, Debra will bring that creativity, inventiveness, and expansive world view to her role at Quinnipiac,” Olian said.
Liebowitz holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Oregon, along with a master’s and a doctoral degree from Rutgers University.
“I am so pleased that we will be joined by a person of such distinction in the role of provost,” Olian said in an the email. “Please join me in welcoming Debra to our Quinnipiac family.”
Jennifer Brown will continue to stay in the position until Liebowitz begins at the start of the summer semester.
