Midwestern State University names Brown Marsden to permanent leadership role
MSU Texas has permanently filled a major leadership role at the university after a national search, officials said in a media release.
Dr. Margaret “Marcy” Brown Marsden will begin serving as Midwestern State University's permanent provost and vice president for academic affairs Jan. 1, 2024. She has been the interim provost since early January this year.
“Dr. Brown Marsden has been a proven leader on our campus as both interim provost and as dean,” MSU Texas President Stacia L. Haynie said in the media release.
“Through her experiences as faculty and administrator and her vision for higher education and for Midwestern State University, Dr. Brown Marsden will inform our commitment to access and success," Haynie said.
Brown Marsden will serve as provost by providing primary administrative leadership, direction and evaluation for academic activities and faculty affairs for MSU.
She will oversee student success efforts, office of institutional effectiveness, academic budgeting and resources, academic support units, instructional programs and the establishment of academic priorities.
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In addition, she will oversee the university’s reaffirmation for continued accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Midwestern was notified earlier this week of its reaffirmation of accreditation through SACSCOC, the regional accrediting agency.
As the interim provost, Brown Marsden, along with the university’s liaison Jeremy Duff, led the university through a successful onsite visit in March to the final full reaffirmation by the agency.
“I am grateful to be asked to serve Midwestern State University in a new capacity and have enjoyed my time here on campus and in Wichita Falls,” said Brown Marsden.
“Being a member of the campus leadership and serving this university’s students, staff, and faculty is a great privilege. I look forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead as we strengthen and grow MSU Texas,” she said.
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Before becoming interim provost, she served as the dean of the McCoy College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering at MSU since September 2015.
She holds a doctorate in biological sciences from Purdue University and a master's in business administration from Texas A&M Commerce.
Before her appointment at MSU, Brown Marsden was a biology faculty member, Biology Department chair, and associate dean of the Constantin College of Liberal Arts at the University of Dallas from 1997 to 2015.
With research interests at the interface between science and society, she has conducted avian research in Alaska, Alcatraz Island and Costa Rica.
She has also consulted for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and the Dallas Museum of Art, and she has studied rare orchids and their conservation in Texas.
Brown Marsden and husband Richard have been married 23 years. Their son, Samuel, is 8 years old. The third-grader is convinced he will be a student at MSU someday.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Midwestern State University names Brown Marsden to permanent leadership role
