Emeritus Professor Accepts Interim Provost Position

December 17, 2007

ELLENSBURG, Wash.--Dr. Anne Denman, Central Washington University professor emerita, has been named interim provost/senior vice president of academic affairs. Denman will begin service on January 7, 2008 and will continue in the post until January 31, 2008, when the search for a permanent office holder is expected to be completed.

CWU President, Jerilyn S. McIntyre, who announced the appointment today, says, "Anne is the perfect person to provide leadership for academic affairs during this interim period. She brings outstanding qualifications to the position and is well respected by those at the university who are acquainted with her past service. I am especially grateful that she is willing to sacrifice some of her time in retirement to serve the university during this period of transition."

"I'm looking forward to helping ease the transition from one excellent provost to another," said Denman who also noted that this is a time to listen to people and their needs.

Denman, a cultural anthropologist, began her career at Central as a part-time faculty member in 1967 and was appointed an assistant professor in the then newly created Department of Anthropology in 1969. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and French from Mt. Holyoke College and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley.

In 1969, Denman became co-director with her husband Clay Denman, also a member of the anthropology faculty, of the Small Towns Institute and continued in the position until 1982. Denman served several terms as the chair of the Department of Anthropology, beginning in 1979. Prior to that, she served briefly as the special assistant to the dean of Graduate School and Research. Denman became interim associate dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences in 1989 and became the permanent office holder from 1990 to 1992. She returned to the chair's role in 1992 and served in that capacity until she was named dean of the newly created College of the Sciences, from 1995 to 1998. Denman retired from CWU in 2003 but has maintained an active interest in the university since that time.

Provost David Soltz, who has held the position since 2001, will leave CWU on January 5 to assume the presidency of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Contact: Elizabeth Street, Chief Planning Officer, 509-963-1112, streetl@cwu.edu
Becky Watson, CWU Public Relations & Marketing, 509-963-1416, bwatson@cwu.edu

Central Washington University is a master's degree-granting institution with approximately 10,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff. More than 160 undergraduate and master's degrees are offered. Founded in 1891, the Ellensburg campus is located in the heart of Washington State, nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River. Since 1975, CWU has served the needs of place bound students at six university centers throughout the state. CWU is an AA/EEO Title IX Institution.