English professor named acting vice provost for faculty development

LAWRENCE — Marta Caminero-Santangelo, professor of English, has been named acting vice provost for faculty development at the University of Kansas, effective Monday, May 19. Caminero-Santangelo will serve in the place of Mary Lee Hummert, who will take on the role of interim vice chancellor for research while a national search is under way for a new vice chancellor.

Caminero-Santangelo joined KU in 1997, rising to associate professor in 2001 and to professor in 2009. She served as chair of the Department of English from 2009–12. In 2007, she was named a KU Woman of Distinction by the Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity. She was a 2009-10 senior administrative fellow and a 2008 recipient of the Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

As vice provost for faculty development, she will have responsibility for all faculty programs and policies, such as faculty appointments and orientation, promotion and tenure, and sabbatical leave. She will also play a leadership role in the implementation of Goals 3 and 5 of Bold Aspirations, focusing on enhancing research and recruiting and developing an excellent and diverse faculty and staff.

“I am honored and thrilled to take on new challenges in this very meaningful role,” Caminero-Santangelo said. “Faculty development was a core issue to me as a department chair, so I look forward to this exciting opportunity to be a part of implementing Bold Aspirations through KU’s efforts to advance our strategic research initiatives through multidisciplinary collaboration, to develop and support faculty leaders, and other projects that will further enhance our national reputation.”

Jeffrey S. Vitter, provost and executive vice chancellor, said Caminero-Santangelo’s 17 years of experience at KU, including as a department chair and as a co-chair for the third universitywide strategic initiative theme summit, Building Communities, Expanding Opportunities, made her a natural choice for her new role.

“Marta has been a leader and mentor throughout her career at KU, and I look forward to working closely with her as acting vice provost. She will play an important role in bringing eminent guests to campus and energizing new faculty hires and research tied to our strategic initiative themes.”

Caminero-Santangelo earned her bachelor's degree in English from Yale University. She earned her master's and doctorate in English from the University of California, Irvine. She has published two books, “The Madwoman Can't Speak: Or Why Insanity Is Not Subversive” and “On Latinidad: US Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity.” She is the recipient of a fall 2008 Hall Center Research Fellowship and a 2010 Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowship in Latino Studies.