Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc, Ph.D.

He is also a professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Previously, Dr. LeBlanc served as dean of the college faculty in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester. His publications include writings on operating systems, parallel programming, and software engineering.| more

Vice Provost for Research, John Bixby, Ph.D.

With over 140 co-authored publications and numerous NSF- and NIH-funded research studies, John Bixby, Ph.D., Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and Neurological Surgery, has earned his place as a distinguished scientist and leader at the University of Miami. Dr. Bixby first joined the University in 1988 as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and has served as Senior Associate Dean for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Director of the UM Neuroscience Center, and Founding Director of the Ph.D. Programs in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS). Prior to his arrival at the University, Dr. Bixby completed his Bachelor’s degree with distinction at Cornell University in 1975 and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology in 1980. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego, and at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) before becoming Assistant Research Physiologist at UCSF. Since 2003, Dr. Bixby has successfully collaborated with Vance Lemmon, Ph.D., the Walter G. Ross Distinguished Chair in Developmental Neuroscience and Professor of Neurological Surgery, to identify genes and signaling networks that promote or hinder axon regeneration following spinal cord injury. | more

Vice Provost for Innovation, Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D.

Norma Sue Kenyon, Ph.D., Martin Kleiman Professor of Surgery, Microbiology and Immunology and Biomedical Engineering, became Vice Provost for Innovation in June 2012.  In this role, she serves as the primary liaison for University faculty and program staff to investigate opportunities for disclosure, patent protection, funding and commercialization of their scientific work and has responsibility for catalyzing interdisciplinary innovation across departments, institutes and schools in areas where the University has intellectual property outcomes with the potential for broad and far-reaching benefits.  Dr. Kenyon has strategic and management responsibility for the Intellectual Property Strategy and Licensure office. 

Utilizing clinically relevant transplant models, and as a co-investigator on multiple clinical trials for patients with type 1 diabetes, she and her team have focused on ways to transplant insulin producing islet cells without the need for life-long anti-rejection drugs, including the incorporation of stem cells into transplant protocols to enhance islet engraftment and survival.  She has received research funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation and several industry collaborators.  She has served as Chair for Immunology in the NIH funded Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet and the Clinical Islet Transplant consortiums and is a member of the NIAID council.  In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Kenyon has served as a scientific advisor to the Food and Drug Administration and as Senior Associate Dean for Translational Science at the Miller School of Medicine.  She is currently Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research at the Miller School.  Kenyon earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University, followed by post-doctoral positions at UCLA and the University of Miami.  She left academics to work for Coulter Corporation early in her career but ultimately returned to pursue type 1 diabetes research. | more

Vice President for Budget and Planning Mark Diaz

As vice president for budget and planning, Mark Diaz is responsible for the strategic development of the University’s budget and capital plans as well as the organizational development and functional oversight of the business operations within the academic units and centers. He serves as a key advisor in the Office of the Provost, leading the implementation of initiatives and supporting long-range planning and resource allocation consistent with established priorities and effective fiscal and operational management. Diaz also collaborates with Finance and Treasury on the five-year strategic operating and capital plans. | more

Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia A. Whitely

Dr. Patricia A. Whitely has been the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Miami since 1997. Prior to her appointment, she was Director of Student Life at the University of Miami from 1994 to 1997. She also served from 1982 to 1994 at the University of Miami as a Residence Coordinator, Assistant Director of Residence Halls, and Associate Director of Residence Halls.

Dr. Whitely is an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Higher Education Administration program in the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami. She also served on the National Association of Student Personnel Administrator’s (NASPA) Foundation Board, is a frequent presenter for the NASPA Alice Manicur Symposium and has served on the NASPA Editorial Board and NASPA Region III Committee.  In February, 2013, she was elected as Chair-elect of the Board of Directors for NASPA and will assume chair responsibilities on March 18, 2014, for a one-year term.

Dr. Whitely has been honored with numerous awards by the student community at the University of Miami.  In 2012, the University of Miami Student Government Executive Board honored her by naming a new award entitled the “Patricia A. Whitely Unsung Hero Award”, and NASPA Region III awarded her the “John Jones Award” for Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Professional in June 2012. She is the recipient of the 2013 NASPA Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Officer, the highest award in her profession, as well as the recipient of the 2009 NASPA Pillar of the Profession.

Dr. Whitely received her bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University, her master’s degree from the University of South Carolina, and her doctorate in higher education from the University of Miami. | more

Vice President of Enrollment Management John Haller

Recently the associate provost of enrollment management at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania, Haller has held several enrollment leadership positions across various areas, including admissions, marketing, and retention. Prior to working at Saint Joseph’s, he served as assistant dean of enrollment at Drexel University and as associate director of admissions and marketing at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

More Staff Links

• Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost Administrative Staff

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