Michelle L. Milligan, EdD, has been promoted to associate provost, effective July 1, announced Edward S. Macias, PhD, provost, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.
In 2009, Milligan was named assistant provost — institutional initiatives. In that position, she helped re-create an Office of the Provost, which last existed as a stand-alone unit in 1995, with Macias holding the provost title.
As associate provost, she will continue to assist in conceiving and implementing leadership development opportunities for faculty and staff through the Provost Diversity Initiative; coordinate programs related to the Danforth Campus’ New Faculty Orientation and Assistant Professor Forum; and oversee The Teaching Center, The Writing Center, Student Records and ROTC.
Milligan will take on additional responsibilities, including facilitating cross-disciplinary work of schools and centers, helping assess academic progress on the Plan for Excellence, and issues related to budget.
“I am pleased to recognize Shelley’s significant role in the development and implementation of many key activities in the Office of the Provost,” Macias says. “Shelley has worked closely with numerous areas of campus to help encourage and support productive teaching, scholarship and service throughout the university.
“I appreciate her dedication to such initiatives as enhancing diversity and improving academic technology needs, and I look forward to continuing our work on these important issues.”
Milligan joined Washington University in 2002 as associate director of development for Arts & Sciences in the Office of Alumni and Development Programs. She previously had been director of the annual fund at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., since 1998.
In 2004, she joined Arts & Sciences as assistant dean, serving as Arts & Sciences’ liaison to the university’s development effort; organizing the Arts & Sciences National Council; developing and managing the Communications Office within Arts & Sciences; and coordinating Arts & Sciences’ strategic planning effort, among her other responsibilities.
Milligan earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in English and French in 1996 from Washington and Lee University. She received a Distinguished Young Alumni Award from her alma mater in May 2006.
She earned a master’s degree in higher education advancement in December 2002 from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in May 2010.
Outside the university, she is an active volunteer leader with the Webster Groves High School chapter of Young Life, a nondenominational Christian ministry that reaches out to teens through a variety of social interactions to help build meaningful relationships. She is also an active member of Central Presbyterian Church, participating on various committees.