Nielsen Stepping Down as NC State Provost

Dr. Larry Nielsen announced that he will step down from his position as provost at North Carolina State University effective May 22. Nielsen will be joining the faculty in NC State’s College of Natural Resources.

“I have made this decision with great regret, because I love the job of provost. The opportunity I have had over the past four and one-half years to help our students, faculty and staff accomplish their goals has been a honor and a source of daily satisfaction,” Nielsen said today. “When I began as provost, many people asked what my vision was. I said that, when I left the position, I hoped that students, faculty and staff would say that NC State had become a better place at which to learn and work. I still hold that hope.”

“We greatly appreciate Provost Nielsen’s service to NC State,” Chancellor James Oblinger said. “I wish Larry every success as he returns to the College of Natural Resources faculty and thank him for his loyalty and service to NC State during his tenure as provost.”

Oblinger said he would convene a search committee and conduct a national search for a new provost. Dr. Warwick Arden, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, will serve as interim provost.

Nielsen served as interim provost from January to June 2005, when he was named provost. Prior to this position, he was dean of NC State’s College of Natural Resources.

During his four years in the job, the provost chaired the NC State University Strategy Team to develop a response to the UNC-Tomorrow Commission and the Board of Governors; managed new efforts in international education including initiatives in China, the United Kingdom, India, France and South America; led an expansion of the university’s diversity programs; created the Pack Promise student success plan for students with the greatest financial need; led the effort to consolidate the information technology components of the campus and co-chaired the search committee that hired NC State’s first chief information officer; created multi-year funding strategies through a compact planning process; led the university’s ongoing budget reduction activities; and created the Guaranteed Textbook Buyback program and Textbook Adoption Incentive Program that produced significant savings for students.

Nielsen is committed to natural resource education. He has taught 16 different courses in his career. Among more than 100 publications, he has co-edited and authored three textbooks on fisheries management. He received two Certificates of Teaching Excellence and The Diggs Teaching Scholar Award from Virginia Tech. He teaches short courses annually for the U.S. Forest Service on communication skills.

A Chicago native, Nielsen received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois before earning a master’s degree from the University of Missouri and a doctoral degree from Cornell University.

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