Dr. Thomas G. Burish, Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at the University of Notre Dame, will step down from that post at the conclusion of his current five-year term on July 1, 2020.
Dr. Thomas G. BurishThe university’s trustee board chair, John J. Brennan, and president Rev. John I. Jenkins made the announcement Thursday.
Burish, Notre Dame’s provost since 2005, is the chief academic officer and the university’s second-ranking officer behind the president.
“It is difficult to overstate the positive impact Tom has had on our university as provost,” Brennan said. “For nearly 15 years, he has guided the strategy and investments that enhanced our faculty and strengthened our scholarship to the great benefit of our undergraduate and graduate students, created new research programs and partnerships, and significantly advanced Notre Dame’s academic reputation among the nation’s leading universities.”
Brennan also praised Burish as “the driving force behind many of the university’s major initiatives, including the creation of the Harper Cancer Research Institute, the Keough School of Global Affairs and the IDEA Center, Notre Dame’s hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization.”
Burish, a distinguished scholar in clinical psychology and Notre Dame alumnus, formerly served as president of Washington and Lee University and was Vanderbilt University’s longest-serving provost, holding that post from 1993 to 2002.
Burish called it “a great joy and privilege” to serve as provost of his alma mater “and to be a part of Notre Dame’s distinctive excellence as a Catholic research university.”
“In a career filled with countless blessings, serving the Notre Dame family is a gift which has given great meaning to my life. I shall always be grateful.”
