Editor’s note: This article has been edited to clarify that Roy Haggerty is the provost of Louisiana State University.

Roy Haggerty, former dean of the College of Science and current provost of Louisiana State University, has been appointed Oregon State University’s next provost and executive vice president.

OSU launched its search for the next provost and executive vice president earlier this year, following Edward Feser’s resignation. A Tuesday afternoon press release announced that Haggerty will take on the role starting July 7, resuming his 26-and-a-half-year career at OSU.

“OSU, from the moment I stepped foot on campus, was a welcoming place with people who cared about me as a junior faculty member, and it was always a place that has cared about people’s wellbeing and their development as students, their development as staff and their development as faculty,” Haggerty said in a phone call.

Haggerty came to OSU in 1996 as a professor of environmental geology, later adopting various leadership positions, including interim dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, associate vice president for research and dean of the College of Science. Since the fall of 2022, Haggerty has served as the provost and executive vice president of Louisiana State University.

Haggerty’s appointment falls amid the implementation of “Prosperity Widely Shared: The Oregon State Plan,” OSU’s ongoing strategic plan, which will stretch until 2030. The plan sets out to expand annual research funding, bolster enrollment for the ecampus and the OSU-Cascades campus, and increase the six-year graduation rate. 

“Roy’s vision and leadership come at a pivotal time, as we elevate Oregon State’s global identity as a top public university that fuels a thriving world through research, innovation and student success,” said OSU President Jayathi Murthy in the press release. “His creativity and forward thinking will play a vital role in OSU’s future.”

Former Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser officially stepped down on March 31, following his resignation announcement in December. In the interim, Senior Advisor to the Provost for Strategic Initiatives Belinda Batten occupied the position and will continue to do so until Haggerty arrives. 

“Provost Batten has stepped into the role and has done a great job as interim, so, really, one of the first things I’ll be doing will be speaking with interim Provost Batten about what’s going on at OSU,” he said. “Then I’m going to hit the ground running and work to move OSU forward with President Murthy.”

Haggerty said his first objective as provost will be to get reacquainted with OSU after his three-year absence. He acknowledged how things have changed since he left, one of these being how OSU is being affected by changes at the federal level. The recent budget cuts for National Institutes of Health research grants, in particular, could limit the aims of “Prosperity Widely Shared.”

“A second priority is making sure that we are in as strong a position as we possibly can be, with regard to all of the changes coming from Washington, DC, and to work together with faculty and staff, to advance OSU to be the best that it can be,” Haggerty said.

Haggerty also aspires to reduce the university’s attrition, or dropout, rate for first-year students. In 2021, the retention rate for first-year OSU students was 86.8%, while the most recent six-year graduation rate stood at 70% in 2016. 

“Something that will be very, very important to me is to bring our first-year retention to 90% for all students, regardless of whether those students are from Pell-eligible backgrounds, from historically underrepresented backgrounds, or who are first generation,” Haggerty said.