Announcement of New Provost at the University of Maryland, College Park

Dear University of Maryland Community,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of our new Senior Vice President and Provost, Dr. Jennifer King Rice, effective August 11, 2021.

The early stages of Dr. Rice's academic career started at the University of Maryland, and for over 25 years, she has served on the faculty and in college leadership roles, most recently as dean of the College of Education and professor of education policy.

As dean, Dr. Rice has excelled at aligning educational resources with key initiatives to advance excellence, equity and social justice in preschool through graduate school. Upon becoming dean, she led the College of Education community through an inclusive strategic planning process, which has resulted in new and innovative initiatives to promote the College's shared values, vision and goals. Her emphasis on college-level research infrastructure, enhancements in instructional programming and diversity, equity and inclusion have propelled the college forward in achievement and rankings during her tenure.

As a national expert in education finance and brilliant architect of policy, Dr. Rice regularly consults with policy organizations and state and federal agencies. She has been a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute. She is currently a fellow of the National Education Policy Center, and served as president of the Association of Education Finance and Policy. She sits on two charter school boards, is a University System of Maryland representative on the Maryland State Teacher Certification Advisory Council, and recently co-chaired the Association of American Universities Annual Deans meeting. Dr. Rice also served as co-chair of the Maryland Education Deans and Directors Council.

As a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher awardee, Dr. Rice has published numerous articles and book chapters. Her authored and edited books cover topics such as performance-based pay for educators, fiscal policy in urban education and teacher attributes in "Teacher Quality: Understanding the Effectiveness of Teacher Attributes", winner of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education book award. She also served on the editorial boards of American Educational Research Journal and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and recently completed a term on the editorial board for Education Finance and Policy.

Prior to joining faculty at Maryland, she was a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research. Dr. Rice earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Education Administration and Social Foundations from Cornell University. She also earned a B.S. in Mathematics and English from Marquette University, where she was recently honored with the Professional Achievement Award from the Marquette University Klingler College of Arts and Sciences.

Since our time as fellow deans, I have been impressed by Dr. Rice's extraordinary commitment to measurable diversity, equity and inclusion in policy and practice. Similar to my own experience, she has taken on new and challenging roles throughout her career at Maryland. She has strengthened our institution every step of the way. I am looking forward to the academic future of this university with Dr. Rice as Senior Vice President and Provost.

I want to thank the search committee members, chaired by Chief Information Officer Jeffrey Hollingsworth, for their shared commitment to identifying exemplary candidates for this position. I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Interim Provost Ann Wylie for her excellent service to our university.

Please join me in congratulating an esteemed researcher, a strategist, an advocate, a highly respected colleague and fellow Terp, Dr. Jennifer King Rice!

Sincerely,

Darryll J. Pines
President, University of Maryland
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