NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/31/2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES ­Northwestern State University president Dr. Randall Webb has announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Hanson as Acting Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs effective immediately. The appointment is pending approval of the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System.

A professor of mathematics and a member of the Northwestern faculty since 1990, Hanson served from 1996 to 2000 as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. He is a member and former president and vice-president of the NSU Faculty Senate.

Hanson succeeds Dr. Anthony Scheffler, who has announced his resignation after serving as Provost and Vice-President since July of 2003.

Webb said Hanson "brings to the Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs position extensive knowledge and experience as an academician and administrator. He has been successful in both higher education and with large corporations in the private sector, and that background and expertise give him outstanding credentials and qualifications to serve in this position."

The NSU president said Hanson's leadership on the Faculty Senate over the years "will also be beneficial to him and the university in his new role as Provost and Vice-President. He recognizes the importance of cooperation and collaboration between the faculty and administration and will work to enhance and expand that alliance."

In addition to serving as a professor in mathematics and computer information systems and as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, Hanson has also been Director of Information Systems at NSU. In that position, he provided leadership in strategic planning and budgeting for all aspects of academic and administrative computer operations. He was also at the forefront of developing campus computer networks, databases and the use of technology in classrooms.

Hanson, who holds bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Georgia, has been an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Florida and was an adjunct lecturer in mathematics at the State University of New York in Binghamton.

In the private sector, he was with IBM for 11 years, advancing to the position of senior product representative, and was later vice-president of management information systems for Lustrelon, Inc.

While completing work on his doctorate at the University of Georgia, he received a traineeship from NASA from 1965 until 1968.

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