University of Texas Permian Basin’s new provost and executive vice president, Susan Ganter, brings a variety of experience to her new role and will take on some new duties from previous provosts.
Ganter replaces Dan Heimmermann, who was named chancellor of the University of South Carolina-Aiken last spring.
She was introduced to the media at a news conference Friday in the conference room on the fourth floor of the Mesa Building.
Ganter, who is leaving her post as dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, will become the second highest ranking official and chief academic officer for the university. She will lead UTPB’s five colleges, which have upwards of 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates.
Embry-Riddle has campuses in Daytona, Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz. All together, she has 32 years of experience in education.
“… This is the one of the most important positions at the university,” President Sandra Woodley said. “She will be basically the deputy president for me here at the University of Texas Permian Basin, and she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from lots of different institutions. She’s currently at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, but she’s also been at Virginia Tech and Clemson and East Carolina University. She is a professor of mathematics, also lots of music in there as well.”
“We are excited to bring her on this really important team at a time when the university is perched in its evolution of the strategic plan to really take the university to that next level. I’ve been the president here going on five years. We’re in the middle of a strategic plan that’s very exciting and very ambitious, and the skills and the knowledge that she brings to the task is going to really help us achieve those very important goals,” Woodley added.
Ganter will be on campus full-time starting this summer, but will be making periodic visits this spring, a news release said.
“I’m excited to be here. I just want to say how thrilled I am and honored to be part of this great institution and really ready to come and hit the ground running,” Ganter said.
She added that there is an “amazing leadership team” at UTPB.
“I’m really excited to be part of that. This institution … on its own as part of the University of Texas System has just so much to offer to the state of Texas and the broader region,” Ganter said.
She noted the potential for growth in areas like health professions, engineering and serving the community.
“The strategic plan that has been put into place really plays to my strengths and my beliefs about the importance of the contributions of the academic community to the broader region. I’m very excited to work with President Woodley and the leadership team on developing partnerships with local industry and really making the university become an even more vibrant part of contributing to the contributions that are happening already in the region,” Ganter said.
“… The student population is a very exciting group; very diverse, which is part of my background. I’m very interested in how students transition from their high school to postsecondary lives and the kinds of things we can provide them to really launch exciting careers and lives for those students,” she said.
“And so the students that are here already and the ones that we will continue to attract are ones that are near and dear to my heart, and ones that I believe that the university can serve well,” she added.
Ganter grew up in the Houston area near Space Center Houston. Her father was an engineer for the Houston Ship Channel for DuPont.
She earned bachelor’s degrees in music and math from Southern Methodist University, a master’s in applied mathematics from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a doctorate in educational leadership with a focus in mathematics, also from UC Santa Barbara.
Ganter has a son who is currently in seventh grade and a daughter who is a senior in high school.
“… I’ve been in a number of institutions. I’ve worked anything from high school all the way through community colleges, regional universities, and research intensive universities. I also spent time in my early career at the National Science Foundation. I was fortunate to be awarded a research fellowship and I spent some time in Washington, D.C., so I work a lot with both the government and nonprofit communities. Most recently, as Dr. Woodley mentioned, I’ve been dean at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, but I spent many faculty years at Clemson University and Virginia Tech. And so I really am a big believer in that combination of disciplines that started with my music and math combination very early in my training. That journey has brought me here, which I think is a wonderful landing spot for me and the experiences that I’ve had so far,” Ganter said.
There were a few things that drew Ganter to UTPB.
“… First, as I already mentioned the leadership team that has been put together here, the combination of both President Woodley, the vice presidents and the deans. It’s just an extraordinarily dynamic group of people that have a really big vision for the university that I think is both achievable and will take the university in new and exciting directions,” she said.
“I already mentioned also the other big reason that I’m interested in coming here is that the potential for what this university can achieve; really just sort of scratched the surface so far of all the things that can be done here in terms of energy development that’s in this region, for example, the health professions, just lots of potential for growth. I really want to be at a place and in a position where I feel like I can make a difference. That’s the thing that has driven all my decisions through my career. It hasn’t been about being at a particular type of place. It’s been being a place where I felt like there was momentum and just a lot of really great things happening and that could be done and then I felt like I could really contribute …,” Ganter said.
In terms of goals, she said, within the strategic plan there are some achievable objectives.
She said there is a lot of room for growth in terms of students, programs and faculty research.
“I think that there’s a very strong core here already. But I believe that there are so many areas where we can be doing more. I was just talking this morning with the Dean of the College of Engineering about the potential for the development of engineering degrees in the area of sustainable energy. That is something that this region is very ripe for. We are in the right place at the right time to do that. And so there are numerous examples like that where I feel like this is a place where UTPB can really contribute,” Ganter said.
“The other place that I think the Provost’s Office will have a big impact is in the growth of research. UTPB’s primary mission is in teaching, but I do believe that there are some pockets of real innovation that are already happening here. And with some nurturing and support, and perhaps some additional faculty hires, I think there are some areas of strength where we could really grow and become a real leader for both the region and the state,” she added.
Of all the places she’s lived, Ganter said Texas feels most like home to her.
“… This is where my roots are. And Texas just has a can-do spirit. I don’t know how else to describe it. There’s just a camaraderie of friendliness. We can do it together kind of a spirit here that has always made me feel like it’s a very positive place to be. That’s what I like is people who think let’s not talk about the obstacles, but let’s talk about what we can achieve together. That’s the kind of environment that I like to be in,” Ganter said.
Woodley said the provost position focused more previously on academic affairs. But the role Ganter will play is the deputy president position.
“In addition to being responsible for all of the academic affairs at the university, Susan will be a real partner with me in the president’s office to also be able to go out into the community, to work with industry leaders, to get involved in many different projects, quality of life, quality of place; working to make sure that the university’s reach and all of its areas service and even music and the cultural aspects with the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center and many of the other programs that we have here,” Woodley said.
“Susan’s role coming in as executive vice president will be elevated even more. She’ll be very instrumental in helping us in the broader strategic plan. Certainly her primary focus will be on strong academics, but that’s not all she’ll be doing. It was very important to get the right person at the right time for this position,” Woodley added.
