Dr. Margaret Kasimatis Named SMC’s New Provost

Dear Members of the Saint Mary’s College Community,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Margaret Kasimatis, an accomplished academic administrator and leader in higher education, as our next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. She will officially join our community on February 1, 2018.

Dr. Kasimatis comes to Saint Mary’s from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she has served as Vice Provost for Strategic Planning and Educational Effectiveness for the past 11 years. In this role, she has provided leadership in the areas of academic program planning and review, strategic planning, academic policy, faculty development, student learning assessment, student success, and continuing education programs. She was also responsible for advancing LMU’s technology-enhanced learning initiative. In addition to serving as the university accreditation liaison officer for LMU, Dr. Kasimatis has also served as the Vice Chair of the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and regularly serves as a WSCUC evaluator.

Dr. Kasimatis holds a tenured faculty appointment in LMU’s department of educational leadership and has published journal articles and book chapters on a variety of topics related to social cognition, including social-cognitive theories of motivation, the relationship between emotion and cognition, and the impact of gender terms on perception. More recently her scholarly work has focused on strategic planning and culture change within universities. Prior to LMU she served in academic administration at Harvey Mudd College and California State Polytechnic University. She has also held full-time faculty positions at Harvey Mudd College and Hope College. Kasimatis earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University and both her master of science and doctoral degrees in social psychology from Purdue University.

Throughout the search process, Dr. Kasimatis demonstrated a deep appreciation for Catholic higher education and the liberal arts and Lasallian traditions that distinguish and animate our mission. I believe her many years of service at LMU will be helpful to her as she begins her work here at Saint Mary’s, including addressing many of the priorities in our 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. I am extremely proud and honored to welcome her to the College.

This appointment culminates a comprehensive national search that attracted many qualified candidates. I want to express personal thanks to the campus search committee, ably led by Professor Zach Flanagin, and to the many faculty, staff, students, Brothers, and others who took time to meet Dr. Kasimatis and other finalists during their visits to campus.

I also want to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Bethami Dobkin for her ten years of distinguished service as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Sincerely,

James A. Donahue
President