VCU names Gottfredson provost

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley

The executive committee of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors today confirmed the appointment of Stephen D. Gottfredson, Ph.D., as provost and vice president for academic affairs, the university’s top academic post. 

Gottfredson has served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs since July 2004 and will assume his new position immediately. As provost, he will coordinate academic policies and be responsible for all academic proceedings and programs for the entire university.

“Over the past year and throughout his eight years at VCU, Dr. Gottfredson has demonstrated tremendous leadership and ingenuity in VCU’s growth as a major national research institution,” said VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.  “There is a great deal of enthusiasm within the university community, among the university’s administration as well as the Board of Visitors, that Dr. Gottfredson will serve VCU very well as our provost.”

Before serving as interim provost, Gottfredson was dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU’s largest academic unit.  Under his leadership, research funding quadrupled and new schools and programs of national import were created, such as the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the VCU School of World Studies, and the forensic science and homeland security and emergency preparedness programs.

“Dr. Gottfredson seizes opportunities in the most challenging circumstances, which is a real strength at a public university,” said Edward H. Bersoff, Ph.D., rector of the VCU Board of Visitors.  “The board was involved in the national search to fill the provost position, and was pleased to find that one of our own stands out among the best in the country.”

As interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, Gottfredson has co-chaired the development of VCU’s strategic plan for the next 15 years.  He said he considers the permanent appointment as an opportunity to articulate the university’s vision and turn it into reality. 

"It is an extraordinary honor to have the opportunity to assist this great university in meeting its missions of excellence in education, in scholarship, and in service to our community.  Virginia Commonwealth University has rapidly transformed itself into one of the leading public urban research universities in the nation, and the new strategic plan that we are now developing will ensure that we capitalize on today's opportunities to build an even brighter future," Gottfredson said.  "I am eager to work with our outstanding faculty, staff and students to achieve the goals for excellence that we have set for ourselves."

Gottfredson came to VCU in July 1997 to serve as dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences.  Previously he was associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, where he was a professor and chair of university-wide faculty of criminal justice, laws and public safety.  He also was professor and chair of criminal justice at Temple University and held academic positions at Johns Hopkins University. 

Gottfredson has published extensively in the areas of criminological prediction, environmental criminology, and correctional policy.  He has received about $3 million in competitively awarded research grants from a wide variety of federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Corrections, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Department of the Treasury.  He has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals.  Gottfredson’s work in the area of behavioral prediction has led to many requests from local, state, national, and international agencies for assistance in managing the offender populations with which they deal. 

Gottfredson received his doctoral and master’s degrees in psychology from Johns Hopkins University and his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Oregon. 

His appointment as VCU provost and vice president for academic affairs follows a national search to fill the position, left vacant a year ago by Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D., who was named president of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.