Faculty Leader Named Interim Provost

September 6, 2023 | News, UToday
By Meghan Cunningham



A longtime faculty leader has been asked to serve as interim provost as The University of Toledo seeks its next permanent chief academic officer.

Dr. Scott Molitor, who had most recently served as interim vice provost for academic affairs and acting dean of the College of Graduate Studies, will lead the Division of Academic Affairs as interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs effective today.

UToledo President Dr. Gregory Postel thanked Dr. Risa Dickson, who was appointed through The Registry to serve as interim provost in July 2022, for her leadership.

Scott Molitor Portrait

Molitor

UToledo is actively searching for its next provost. The search committee held stakeholder meetings in August to finalize the position description that is now posted for interested academic leaders on the University’s executive search website.

The University is moving forward with identifying qualified candidates to interview this fall semester with the goal of making an offer by the end of the calendar year.

Molitor, who has been a member of the UToledo faculty since 2000 when he joined the College of Engineering as an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, will provide interim leadership for academic affairs and assist with the transition when the next provost comes to campus.

Molitor joined the Office of the Provost staff in 2022 from the College of Engineering where he held a number of administrative roles throughout his career. In addition to his faculty appointment as professor of bioengineering, Molitor served as senior associate dean for academic affairs, associate dean of undergraduate studies and undergraduate program director. He represented the college on Faculty Senate for nine years.

His academic research interests have been in the molecular mechanisms of cellular excitability, computational modeling of neuronal function, auditory neuroscience, and treatments for traumatic brain injury. More recently Molitor has been researching science and engineering education, including the preparation of high school and first-year college students to study engineering mathematics and training teachers to deliver science and engineering instruction. He has served as the principal investigator or co-PI on interdisciplinary research projects that have garnered more than $20 million in external funding.

Molitor earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and bachelor’s degree in engineering science from the University of Michigan. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.