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WMU provost announces plans to step down

May 26, 2004

KALAMAZOO--Dr. Daniel M. Litynski, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Western Michigan University, announced today that he is stepping down as the University's top academic officer, effective June 30.

Litynski, who is a tenured professor in WMU's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will return to the faculty to teach and conduct research following a year-long leave of absence. He has held the provost post since Sept. 1, 2002, prior to which he served as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

"I have enjoyed tremendously the opportunity to serve the students, faculty and staff of this great institution for the past five years as dean of engineering and applied sciences, and as provost," Litynski said in an e-mail to the campus community. "I now look forward to returning to the faculty, after spending more than 18 years in academic administration."

WMU President Judith I. Bailey thanked Litynski on behalf of the entire University for his service, noting, "Provost Litynski has made many valuable contributions and lasting friendships on campus and in the Southwest Michigan community. I am particularly grateful to him for all that he has done to support me during my first year as WMU president."

Bailey also said she will be consulting with academic leaders prior to naming an interim provost who will work with Litynski on the leadership transition that will become effective July 1.

Litynski came to WMU in 1999 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he held various faculty and research positions before serving as head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. A career military officer, he retired as a brigadier general shortly before coming to Kalamazoo.

Litynski has been active in research and teaching in electrical engineering, optics and physics for more than 25 years, especially in the fields of laser and electro-optic research, and educational pedagogy. His research has been widely published in professional and technical journals, and he holds a patent for his work in developing a method to convert analog signals to digital signals.

In December 2002, when former WMU President Elson S. Floyd assumed the presidency of the University of Missouri System, Litynski was appointed interim president while the national search that brought Bailey from Northern Michigan University was conducted. That same year, he was awarded the Cavalier Cross of Merit by the president of the Republic of Poland, in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Polish-American relations.

A native of Amsterdam, N.Y., he earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1965, a master's degree in optics from the University of Rochester in 1971 and a doctoral degree in physics from Rensselaer in 1978. He is also a 1989 graduate of the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Media contact: Matt Kurz, 269 387-8400, matt.kurz@wmich.edu

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