DR. CAROL A. BLACKSHIRE-BELAY SELECTED TO SERVE
AS INTERIM PROVOST FOR NAROPA UNIVERSITY

BOULDER, Colo. (July 18, 2011) – Naropa University today announces the appointment of Dr. Carol A. Blackshire-Belay, with more than 25 years of faculty and senior administrative experience, as interim Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies.

“Dr. Blackshire-Belay is a distinguished scholar with more than 45 publications to her credit, as well as an experienced administrator whose background uniquely matches the opportunities and challenges at Naropa,” said Dr. Stuart Lord, president of Naropa. “We are fortunate to have her leadership as we embark on a new, more efficient organizational structure in our Academic Affairs division and begin to renovate our campus to focus on student success.”

Internationally recognized for her extensive scholarly and research contributions to the fields of Germanic Linguistics and African/African American Studies, Dr. Blackshire-Belay holds a doctorate and master’s degree from Princeton University, as well as a Magister Artium from Ludwigs-Maximilians Universität München, in Munich, Germany, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, all in Germanic Linguistics.

Most recently Dr. Blackshire-Belay served Onward Education and Training, Cherry Hill, N.J., as a consultant and facilitator to colleges and universities throughout the country. Previously, she served in senior-level administrative and faculty positions at Fayetteville State University, Sonoma State University, the University of Wisconsin (Madison and Green Bay campuses), Indiana State University, Temple University, and The Ohio State University; she also served as Post-Doctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

During her career, Dr. Blackshire-Belay has played key leadership roles in restructuring academic programs, establishing new programs and restructuring and making changes to campus facilities. Her work has increased productivity and reduced costs while enhancing the quality of programs and increasing funding for faculty research.

Dr. Blackshire-Belay will serve a two-year interim term as Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, succeeding Dr. Stuart J. Sigman, who recently accepted an appointment as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.

###