April 05, 2018
Dr. Daniel A. Wubah named president of Millersville University of Pennsylvania
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education today
unanimously selected Dr. Daniel A. Wubah, a former provost and senior adviser to the
president of Washington and Lee University, to be the next president of Millersville
University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. Dr. Wubah will be introduced to the
university community, including students, faculty, staff, and others, during a welcoming
reception to be held at 10 a.m., tomorrow,in the Slabinski Atrium of the Student Memorial
Center
Dr. Wubah currently is a member of the Biology Department at Washington and Lee, the
nation’s ninth-oldest college located in Lexington, Va. He has more than 25 years
of experience in higher education, beginning his academic career as an assistant professor
at Towson State University in Maryland.
“Dr. Wubah will bring to Millersville University an extraordinary range of experience
in higher education,” said Board of Governors Chairwoman Cynthia D. Shapira. “His
background and his commitment to student success are an ideal match for Millersville.
We are confident he will provide the university the leadership it needs to continue
to advance its mission of serving students, the community and the Commonwealth.”
As provost at Washington and Lee, Dr. Wubah served as the university’s chief academic
officer, with oversight over two undergraduate colleges and the law school. His career
also has included stints at James Madison University, Virginia Tech University and
the University of Florida.
“Dr. Wubah already has had a remarkable career as a faculty member, a scholar and
a university leader,” said State System Interim Chancellor Karen M. Whitney. “Millersville
is an outstanding institution that continues to excel. They are a perfect match. I
am certain Daniel will be a great addition to both Millersville University and the
State System. I am thrilled that he will be joining our leadership team.”
Dr. Wubah said he is “profoundly honored and excited to have the opportunity” to serve
as Millersville’s next president and looks forward to arriving on campus.
“In addition to the institutional core values, I was attracted to Millersville University
because of the genuine commitment to academic excellence and student success by the
exceptional faculty, staff and alumni,” he said. “The university is well positioned
to be a leader among its peers and I will dedicate all my efforts to work collaboratively
with the State System, our Council of Trustees, our campus constituents, corporate
partners and the Lancaster community to achieve this goal. Judith and I are eagerly
looking forward to move to campus by July 1.”
The Board’s action today comes at the conclusion of a national search for a successor
to Dr. John M. Anderson, who will retire June 30 after serving as Millersville’s president
for more than five years.
"We are thrilled that Dr. Wubah was selected to become Millersville University’s next
president,” said Council member Ann Womble, who chaired the presidential search committee.
“He received the unanimous support of our search committee and our Council of Trustees.
“The campus community is eagerly anticipating his creative and energetic leadership
as we continue working toward our strategic goals. Dr. Wubah is committed to student
success above all, and he will ensure that MU remains a pacesetter within the State
System during the upcoming period of system redesign."
“I commend the presidential search committee for producing a very diverse and experienced
array of candidates,” said Council of Trustees Chair Michael G. Warfel. “I am confident
in Dr. Wubah’s abilities to successfully lead the university upon President Anderson’s
retirement.”
Dr. Wubah earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in botany and a Diploma in Education
from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a Master of Science in biology from the
University of Akron and a Ph.D. in botany and microbiology from the University of
Georgia.
He served as provost at Washington and Lee from July 2013 to January 2016, then as
a senior advisor to the president, assisting with the transition to a new president.
As provost, he implemented a bridge plan to help address enrollment issues and assisted
with the successful conclusion of a $500 million capital campaign and increased support
for students doing summer undergraduate research by 35 percent.
Prior to his arrival at Washington and Lee, Dr. Wubah was deputy provost and vice
president and dean for undergraduate education at Virginia Tech, where he oversaw
a $426 million annual budget and nearly 180 full-time faculty and staff. In that role,
he oversaw the development of the first baccalaureate program in meteorology at a
college in Virginia. He also led the creation of an electronic course planner that
enabled students to develop two- and four-year plans during their first year and developed
new programs through the Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program to increase
the number of minority undergraduate students who enter graduate and professional
programs.
Previously, Dr. Wubah was associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs at
the University of Florida. He was special assistant to the president, associate dean
of the College of Science and Mathematics and pre-med coordinator at James Madison
University in Harrisonburg, Va. He spearheaded the Centennial Scholars Program to
provide access to students from under-represented groups. From 2002 to 2016, he directed
an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates site program in Ghana that focused
on ecology, ethnobotany, conservation and environmental biology. He chaired the Department
of Biological Sciences for two years while on the faculty at Towson State University.
Dr. Wubah is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science and he has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on how to prepare
the scientific work force of the 21st century. He has received numerous research grants
totaling about $19 million over the course of his career and has received numerous
awards and honors. He has co-authored two books and published fifty peer-reviewed
research articles, book chapters and technical reports.
He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences panel that studied the scientific
basis for estimating air emission from animal-feeding operations. He has served on
and chaired several National Science Foundation review panels and National Institutes
of Health study sections. He was a member of advisory boards for the NSF Biology Directorate
and the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering. He was an associate editor
for Mycologia, a member of the editorial board of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary
Journal on Study Abroad and currently serves as a reviewer for the International Journal
of Medical Informatics and the International Journal of Biotechnology and Recent Advances.
Dr. Wubah has served on a number of professional committees and boards, including
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the National
Science Foundation. He is a member of the American Council on Education, Association
of American Colleges and Universities and the Council for Advancement and Support
in Education.
Millersville University of Pennsylvania has a current enrollment of about 7,700 students.
It offers more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 50 graduate programs
and professional certifications in the areas of science and mathematics, education
and humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1855 as the first normal School
in Pennsylvania and became a university in 1983, upon the creation of the State System.