Bucknell University's Mark Padilla Named VCAA at UNCA

Dr. Mark Padilla

Mark W. Padilla, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Bucknell University and a graduate of Princeton University, has been named vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNC Asheville. The appointment has been made by UNCA Chancellor James H. Mullen Jr. pending approval by the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors.

Padilla, who earned a doctorate in comparative literature from Princeton, has served as a professor of classics, chair of the Classics Department as well as associate dean of faculty at Bucknell. He founded Bucknell’s Program of Comparative Humanities, an interdisciplinary degree program and served as its coordinator from 1997-2001.

"I am extremely pleased that Mark Padilla has agreed to join our senior team as the chief academic officer," said Chancellor Mullen. "He is an accomplished teacher and scholar and a proven administrator who holds a deeply felt commitment to the liberal arts. He will work passionately and collegially to lead an exceptional academic community to even greater heights.

"Dr. Padilla joins us from an outstanding liberal arts university and he shares our values concerning the importance of the liberal arts and sciences in today’s society and today’s economy. Moreover, he will bring important leadership on critical issues such as diversifying our campus environment, general education review, service learning and creating an intergenerational community at UNC Asheville."

Padilla said he was impressed by UNCA's achievements and vision, and with the welcome he was shown from the Asheville community. "I am profoundly honored by this opportunity to serve Chancellor Mullen and this excellent university. In my visits to Asheville, the dedication and commitment demonstrated to me by students, faculty, and the administrative staff have impressed upon me the responsibility that I face in leading the Academic Affairs division of UNCA. I have also been touched by the hospitality and good will shown to my wife and me, as we contemplate moving our family to the City of Asheville.

"Among the many challenges before me, I look forward especially to finding ways to enhance the human diversity of the university community. I am myself a product of an ethnically diverse lineage -- Hispanic through my father and German through my mother. My parents met in a university setting, though each was raised in a different part of the country -- a Texas border town and a small southern Minnesota farming community. Higher education positively transformed their lives and in a university setting that, well ahead of its time, promoted ethnic and racial interaction and understanding through the filter of a campus experience," Padilla said.

Padilla’s current administrative responsibilities at Bucknell primarily involve oversight of the personnel, curricular, and budgetary matters at Bucknell University’s College of Arts and Sciences. The college has 2,700 students and 225 faculty, with 22 academic departments and seven interdisciplinary programs.

In his many roles at Bucknell, Padilla has earned praise from his colleagues.

"Mark has done a great job for us throughout all the years he has served Bucknell, and he will truly be missed," said Bucknell President Steffen H. Rogers.

Classics Associate Professor and Chair Janet Jones noted, "Mark Padilla's heart is with the faculty and with the teaching enterprise."

In addition to his doctorate, Padilla holds a master’s degree in comparative literature from Princeton and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California-Santa Cruz in classical studies and English, in which he earned the highest honors. He has written numerous articles on Athenian drama and the figure of Herakles in Greek myth and literature.

Bucknell University, located in Lewisburg, Pa., is a highly selective liberal arts college with 3,550 students. Like UNC Asheville, Bucknell is primarily an undergraduate institution with small classes and a strong commitment to the humanities. U. S. News and World Report ranks Bucknell 28th among the nation’s 218 liberal arts colleges. For the past 10 years, Bucknell has ranked first in the nation in the NCAA report on graduation rates of student-athletes.

This past August, UNC Asheville formed a 15-member VCAA Search Committee and began a national search for a vice chancellor for academic affairs. Four candidates came to UNC Asheville this spring for interviews and presentations. The committee then recommended the names of several finalists to UNC Asheville Chancellor Mullen, who made the final selection.

Dr. Thomas Cochran is serving as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. Dr. Cochran has worked in many capacities at UNC Asheville over the past 25 years, including dean of faculty and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. He also served as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs for a period in 1994 and again in 1995-96.

Pending approval by the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors, Padilla will assume his duties during mid-summer.

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