Associate Provost Harold Stanley named interim SMU provost

SMU Associate Provost Harold W. Stanley has been named the University’s vice president for academic affairs and provost ad interim effective June 1, 2015.

SMU Associate Provost Harold W. Stanley has been named the University’s vice president for academic affairs and provost ad interim effective June 1, 2015. Current Provost Paul W. Ludden has announced that he will be leaving the Office of the Provost on May 31, 2015.

Harold StanleyA distinguished political scientist with special expertise in American government, Southern and Latino politics and presidential elections, Dr. Stanley came to SMU in 2003 as the Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Chair in American Politics and Political Economy in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

He became the University’s associate provost in June 2010. In this position, he oversees SMU’s international study, research and internship programs in its International Center; teaching, research and other activities at the University’s New Mexico campus, SMU-in-Taos; student academic services in the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center and the Loyd Center for the Academic Development of Student Athletes; and the University’s most prestigious scholarship for exceptional students, the President’s Scholars program.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Stanley in place to serve in this important role,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner, who appointed the interim provost. “He is an outstanding scholar and University citizen who understands the issues and operations of the Office of the Provost and the academic life it guides. He will provide valuable continuity as we conduct a national search for provost and vice president of academic affairs.”

At SMU, Dr. Stanley has been a member of the Executive Board of the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies since 2003. He has also chaired the Honors Task Force (2006-07), served on the General Education Review Committee (2007-09), and co-chaired the Faculty/Staff Steering Committee for the Second Century Campaign (2009-10). He received SMU’s Distinguished University Citizen Award in 2008 and the University’s highest recognition, the “M” Award, in 2010. He was honored with the Outstanding Administrator Award in 2013.

Dr. Stanley has written three books: Vital Statistics on American Politics, now in its 15th edition (CQ Press); Voter Mobilization and the Politics of Race: The South and Universal Suffrage, 1952-1984 (Praeger, 1987), and Senate vs. Governor, Alabama 1971: Referents for Opposition in a One-Party Legislature (University of Alabama Press, 1975). He has also published numerous reviews, book chapters and journal articles in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics, among others.

A former president of the Southern Political Science Association, Dr. Stanley received the 2010 Outstanding Teaching in Political Science Award from Pi Sigma Alpha and the American Political Science Association. Earlier this year, he was named a 2015-16 Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar.

Dr. Stanley received his B.A. degree from Yale in 1972, graduating magna cum laude as well as with honors with exceptional distinction in political science. He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University (Worcester College) from 1972-75, earning a Master of Philosophy in politics. He returned to Yale to earn his Ph.D. in political science in 1981.