Larkin Named Acting ProvostLesley Larkin (English) has been appointed acting provost and chief academic officer until NMU completes its national search for Paul Lang's successor.
“I am honored to have been asked to step in at this difficult time and will do everything I can to honor the hard work and commitment to NMU that Paul brought to the Office of the Provost," Larkin said. "As I draw upon my experiences as a scholar and teacher, my goal is to champion academic excellence in every corner of our campus. I will also do everything I can in this brief period to make our transition to a new provost as successful as possible.”
In a campus-wide email, NMU President Fritz Erickson wrote, “The appointment is needed now for many reasons, but most importantly for continuing in the forward movement of the university’s strategic planning and core values development."
Larkin joined the NMU faculty in 2008. She has taught courses in composition, American literature, African American literature, gender and literature, and critical theory. She is the author of Race and the Literary Encounter: Black Literature from James Weldon Johnson to Percival Everett and is drafting a second book titled North American Literature in the Genomic Age. Larkin holds a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from Linfield College. At Northern, she has served on numerous committees, and is currently chairing the president’s committee on diversity and co-chairing the provost search committee.