Denison University announces that Kimberly A. Coplin, associate professor of physics and astronomy and member of the Denison class of 1985, has been appointed as Provost for the college.
In his announcement to the community, Denison President Adam Weinberg said, “Kim has a deep understanding of, respect for, and commitment to Denison. She has excellent management skills and a style of decision-making that is open, transparent, inclusive, and forward-looking.” He added, “This is a great college with a talented and highly committed faculty and staff that deserves to have a provost who believes in the strength and vitality of the institution.”
The college engaged the services of a private search consultant, who has conducted many provost searches for top liberal arts colleges. She was charged to gather objective input from both Coplin and members of Denison’s faculty, board and staff. The consultant was fully confident in her evaluation and recommendation of Coplin.
Prior to her appointment as provost Coplin has served in the Office of the Provost as associate provost since 2006 and was named interim provost in July 2013. She has been a member of the Denison faculty since 1993 as an associate professor of physics. Coplin graduated from Denison, summa cum laude, as class valedictorian and member of Phi Beta Kappa. She obtained her master’s of arts degree in physics from Johns Hopkins University and her doctorate, also in physics, from Ohio State University. She has published numerous articles in scholarly publications, including “Nonlinear Optics,” “Physical Review Letters,” and “Synthetic Metals.”