Dear Colleagues,
I hope your semester is off to a great start and that you had a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.
Rice has bold plans for growth in digital learning, and I am happy to announce that a new leader is joining the university to lead the effort. Shawn Miller will join Rice as associate provost for digital learning and strategy effective Nov. 1, reporting directly to the provost.
In his new role, Shawn will be the key steward of Rice’s digital strategy, leveraging best practices already in place across the university as well as introducing new approaches and collaborations.
Shawn comes to Rice from Duke University, where he held several leadership positions, most recently associate vice provost and chief of staff for learning innovation. He led Duke to scale access to experimental digital tools, design and launch a digital publishing platform for learning, move thousands of faculty and students from a legacy learning management system to a new one, create and build on a partnership with Coursera, help launch the first undergraduate curriculum and faculty development efforts at Duke Kunshan University in Jiangsu, China, and establish Duke’s own next-generation digital learning environment.
Early in his career, Shawn led the effort to establish the University of Texas at El Paso’s first learning management system. Along with 20 years of professional experience in digital education, Shawn brings his perspective as a former working, first-generation college student. I invite you to read more about his experience and accomplishments in Rice News.
I’d like to thank the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, which conducted the search. I’d also like to thank search committee chair C. Fred Higgs III, the vice provost for academic affairs and the John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and the 10-member search committee for their dedication, time and effort.
Please join me in welcoming Shawn to Rice.
Warm Regards,
Amy