Earlier this month, Dr. Gail Summer moved into her Founders Hall office as Augustana’s new provost and dean of the college.

Selected from a deep pool of candidates from across the country, Dr. Summer replaces Dr. Pareena Lawrence, who resigned to become president of Hollins University in Roanoke, Va. Dr. Lawrence came to Augustana in 2011.

“We were very impressed by the pool of candidates,” said Dr. Kathy Jakielski, chair of the provost search committee, chair of Augustana’s faculty council, and a professor of communication sciences and disorders. “I am confident that Dr. Summer will bring a great deal of knowledge and ability to Augustana.”

Dr. Summer was vice president for academic affairs at Ferrum College in Virginia for the past four years. Prior to her time at Ferrum, she served in various capacities at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., from professor of education to the dean of academic programs. Augustana and Lenoir-Rhyne are two of the 26 colleges and universities related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Among the important projects Dr. Summer will take on as provost are the conversion of the college’s academic calendar from trimesters to semesters, and the continued implementation of the college’s strategic plan, Augustana 2020.

“I really am excited to be at Augustana,” said Dr. Summer. “I wanted to be at a place where undergraduate education drove the institution and did so with a liberal-arts foundation still being central. The faculty are doing all the right things 
on behalf of the students.”

Dr. Summer earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington; M.Ed. from University of South Carolina, Columbia; and Ed.D. from University of North Carolina, Greensboro.