UI President J. Bruce Harreld has named Liz Tovar, associate athletics director for Student-Athlete Academic Services, and Claire F. Fox, professor and chair in the Department of English, to co-chair the search committee tasked with selecting the next chief diversity officer.

“I am pleased to name Liz and Claire co-chairs of the search committee. Each has a strong understanding of the unique skills and qualities needed in a new chief diversity officer, and they bring considerable expertise from their respective positions,” says Harreld.

Tovar has served as the associate athletics director for Student-Athlete Academic Services since August 2013. In addition to supervising daily operations within Academic Services, she manages the academic and personal support service for student-athletes across all 24 UI sports programs. She earned a BA in psychology, an MA in clinical psychology, and PhD in educational leadership and policy studies, all from the University of Kansas.

Fox was promoted to professor of English in 2014 and became chair of the Department of English in 2017. She contributed to the establishment of an academic program in Latina/o Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and is co-principal investigator on a grant titled “Building Sustainable Worlds: Latinx Placemaking in the Midwest,” which is supported by the Humanities Without Walls consortium. She earned a BA in literature from Yale and an MA and PhD in comparative literature from the UI.

The new chief diversity officer will replace Georgina Dodge, who left the UI in July 2017 to become associate provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Bucknell University, a private institution in rural Pennsylvania.

In addition, Isaacson, Miller, Inc., the firm hired to lead the search, will visit campus July 17–18 to meet with administrators and key constituency groups. The meetings will help the firm understand the job and preferred qualities in candidates, as well as develop a position profile.

If necessary, Isaacson, Miller will return to campus in August for additional meetings.

“The information gleaned from these meetings will help Isaacson, Miller develop a position profile that presents a realistic and enticing picture of the challenges, measures of success, and ideal qualifications for the role,” says Melissa Shivers, interim chief diversity officer and vice president for student life.

The anticipated start date for a new chief diversity officer is the beginning of the spring 2019 semester.