Oklahoma State University names Robert Sternberg as Provost
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sternberg, who has served as dean of the Tufts School of Arts and Sciences since 2005,
will officially assume the position on Aug. 1.
Sternberg discusses new position in Inside Higher Ed
“Bob Sternberg brings an outstanding record of creativity, scholarship and research
to this position, and Oklahoma State University is extremely pleased to have him join
our team to guide our academic programs,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “After
visiting with deans and faculty, we knew his management style and leadership ability
made him the right choice.”
Sternberg said, “I am thrilled about this wonderful opportunity. OSU is on course
to be among the top tier of state universities and land-grant systems in the country
and it is an honor to join the OSU team. I look forward to working with OSU’s outstanding
faculty and helping OSU’s talented students succeed at the highest level.”
According to Hargis, OSU was fortunate to have four strong finalists with a unique
array of experiences for the position, and all four visited the campus and met in
forums with faculty and staff.
Dr. Marlene Strathe, who has held the OSU position since July 2003, announced last
September that she planned to step down and return to the faculty. “We want to thank
Marlene for her leadership and dedication to OSU as provost and as interim president,”
said Hargis.
Sternberg will serve as the chief academic officer of the institution. His responsibilities
will include oversight of the colleges, including the Honors College and Library,
as well as scholar development, academic services to students and assessment.
Prior to accepting his position at Tufts, he served in a variety of positions on the
psychology faculty at Yale University from 1975, including acting chair and director
of graduate studies. He was the IBM Professor of Psychology and Education from 1986-2005,
and director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise
from 2000-2005.
He has served as an honorary psychology professor at the University of Heidelberg
since 2007.
Sternberg received his B.A. degree summa cum laude from Yale University and his Ph.D.
from Stanford University, both in psychology, and has been awarded 11 honorary doctorates
from around the world.
He is serving as president of the International Association for Cognitive Education
and Psychology, and is president-elect of the Federation of Associations of Behavioral
and Brain Sciences. In 2003 he was president of the American Psychological Association.
He currently serves on the board of directors of the International Association of
Cognitive Education and Psychology, the Association of American Colleges and Universities,
and is an honorary trustee of the American Psychological Foundation.
He has been awarded numerous scholarly prizes and awards. He has been on the ISI
Highly Cited List in Psychology/Psychiatry since 2003, was listed as one of the “Top100
Psychologists of the 20th Century” by APA Monitor, and in 1984 Science Digest named
him one of the 100 “Top Young Scientists in the U.S.”
Among the Fellowships he has received are a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow to
Slovakia in 2005 and an IREX Visiting Scholar Fellow to Russia in 2000.
He also has been selected as a Fellow by 22 professional societies, including the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Psychological
Association.