Associate Provost and Professor of Biology Drew Kerkhoff has been named the next provost of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, effective July 10, 2023. As a member of Puget Sound’s senior leadership team, Kerkhoff will oversee an academic program distinguished for its experiential approach to teaching and learning in the liberal arts and sciences.
“Drew has contributed to Kenyon in many ways as an extraordinary teacher, scholar and administrator,” Acting President Jeff Bowman said. “His work as associate provost has been characterized by keen intelligence, generosity of spirit, and a lively imagination. I’m not at all surprised that the University of Puget Sound saw and admired these qualities. He’ll bring both energy and insight to the Puget Sound leadership team.”
In his 18 years as a member of Keyon’s faculty, Kerkhoff has held a variety of leadership roles, including the chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, chair of the biology department, and director of student research programs. He became associate provost in June of 2020. In that role, he has focused on faculty recruitment and development, student success, and the implementation of strategic goals related to environmental literacy, including a collegiate plan for attaining carbon neutrality by 2040.
“Drew has helped guide colleagues in our collective pursuit of academic excellence, both to realize their own visions and to work together for common goals,” Acting Provost Sheryl Hemkin said. “While I am sad to see such a great colleague leave Kenyon’s campus, I am thrilled that he will be able to bring his talents to the University of Puget Sound.”
When Kerkhoff became associate provost, he simultaneously joined the COVID-19 Steering Committee. He became chair of the committee in 2021 and was instrumental in helping the College navigate one of the most disruptive periods in its history with reason, humanity and grace.
“Living, teaching and learning at Kenyon has been a tremendous honor and an absolute joy,” Kerkhoff said. “Upon arriving at Kenyon in 2005, Jill and I found not just an opportunity for work filled with meaning and purpose, but a vibrant and welcoming community where our family could set down roots and grow together. Colleagues, students and alumni quickly grew into a network of lifelong friends, and the bucolic landscapes of Gambier and the Brown Family Environmental Center have become a boundless source of inspiration. Kenyon is a singularly transformative institution, and I am excited and grateful to take some of what I have learned here to my new community at the University of Puget Sound.”
With his students and collaborators, Kerkhoff studies the ecology and evolution of plant biodiversity and the functional role of earth’s vegetation in the global carbon cycle. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, and his research has received support through multiple grants from the National Science Foundation.
Both at Kenyon and in the wider community, Kerkhoff has led efforts to incorporate computational and data science approaches into undergraduate biology curricula and to better integrate writing instruction into science education. He contributed to the development of the science and nature writing program, which has received support from the Mellon Foundation.
Kerkhoff earned his bachelor of arts in English at Rutgers University, with a minor in history. After spending four years as a woodworker in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he returned to school to pursue his master’s degree and doctorate in biology at the University of New Mexico. Before joining Kenyon’s faculty in 2005, he also completed a post-doctorate at the University of Arizona.
Professor of History Wendy Singer, who has served as associate provost for the past year while Hemkin has served as acting provost, will continue in the role for the 2023-2024 academic year.