Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

I write to announce that Provost Isiaah Crawford, PhD, has been named the 14th president of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. He will begin his new role July 1, 2016. I join with you in congratulating him on this well-deserved appointment and express profound gratitude to him for his many contributions to Seattle University.

Through his collaborative work with faculty, staff and students since arriving at SU in 2008, Isiaah has been instrumental in solidifying and advancing all facets of our academic enterprise. He developed and implemented a five-year Academic Strategic Action Plan and took the lead in developing new or revising 40 academic programs. Under Isiaah's leadership, our undergraduate Core Curriculum was revised, the Seattle University Youth Initiative was formed and fostered, and our ninth and newest school, the School of New and Continuing Studies, was launched.

During his time with us, Isiaah has championed excellent teaching and high-quality research. He led in developing a revised set of graduate and undergraduate learning outcomes, and in establishing the Office of Research Services and Sponsored Programs, which has helped grow sponsored research at SU by an impressive 33 percent. In collaboration with Academic Assembly, he oversaw a full revision of the Faculty Handbook . Isiaah has also ensured that our classrooms were upgraded to enhance student learning and oversaw the establishment of an instructional design office to foster learning technologies, distance education and online course development.

With the leadership of Jerry Huffman, vice president for Human Resources, and his team, Isiaah helped us institute a five-year, $5.6 million market equity program to increase compensation for faculty and staff and established a sabbatical program for tenure-track assistant professors. He also had a big hand in bringing to SU this year the largest undergraduate class in our history.

I could not be more grateful to Isiaah for these and other accomplishments realized and strides made during his time as provost; and I know he, too, is grateful for those he was able to work so closely with to make it all happen. Personally, I am deeply appreciative of the good counsel he has provided to me and to the cabinet these past eight years. His leadership and commitment have been integral in strengthening and elevating our university and positioning us for even greater success.

Isiaah will continue to serve as provost through May. We look forward to holding a reception in his honor closer to that time. I am currently consulting with others and expect to name an interim provost in the near future. We will launch a national search for a permanent successor at the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year.

In the meantime, let us congratulate Isiaah on his new appointment and thank him for the many ways in which he continues to enhance our academic community.

Sincerely,

Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J. 
President