After conducting a national search, Le Moyne College has appointed James P. Hannan, Ph.D., as its new provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Since arriving at Le Moyne in 2006, I have loved this College and the remarkable people who make up the Le Moyne community,” said Dr. Hannan. “I believe deeply in Le Moyne’s mission to provide undergraduate and graduate students with an education that prepares them for success while encouraging them to seek meaning and purpose in their careers and personal lives. As a Jesuit college, we educate our students to think of themselves in relation to others and to make decisions that are well-informed, ethical, and in service to a common good. I feel honored and privileged to have this opportunity to help Le Moyne advance its mission and continue to make a lasting difference in the lives of our students and their communities.”
Dr. Hannan received his bachelor’s degree in Humanities and Arts from Hampshire College and his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Chicago. His research examines the impact of globalization on contemporary literature written in English from the Caribbean and South Asia. He has published and presented his research on a number of authors, including the Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and V.S. Naipaul, as well as Dionne Brand, Pauline Melville, Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Chandra. He has participated in a research trip to South Africa as part of a Le Moyne College initiative to globalize the core curriculum, and was a member of “Bharata Darshan: Past and Present in the Study of India’s History and Culture,” a four week National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute that took place in Shimla and New Delhi, India.
Dr. Hannan holds a faculty appointment in Le Moyne’s Department of English. He has served as chair of the English Department, dean of assessment and planning, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and, since April 2021, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Le Moyne President Linda LeMura praised Dr. Hannan’s judgment and effectiveness as an administrator. “Jim is results oriented and gathers broad input from his colleagues in the decision-making process. He represents the interests of the faculty effectively and provides excellent leadership of the student development division. Over the years, he has made significant contributions to Le Moyne’s success. I’m confident that his commitment to the liberal arts and his strategic approach to innovation and program development will help Le Moyne continue to thrive for years to come.”
The national search for provost yielded a competitive, well-qualified pool of applicants. Faculty, students, members of the Board of Trustees, vice presidents, the Student Development leadership team and the academic deans participated directly in the search process. Search committee chair Inga Barnello, director of the Noreen Reale Falcone Library, said she was “very impressed with the work of this search committee. They worked very diligently and in a thorough, equitable and collegial manner.” The other search committee members were William Brower (advancement), Barbara Carranti (nursing), Aparna Das, Ph.D. (computer science), Kathleen Forbush, ’90 (trustee), Rev. Darius Makuja, Ph.D., (religious studies), Osabohien Oduwa, ’23, Dipankar Rai, Ph.D. (marketing), Frank Ridzi, Ph.D. (sociology), and Mary Schad ’14, M.S.Ed. ’16 (student success center).
Dr. LeMura thanked the members of the search committee for their efficient and conscientious work. “In order to ensure stability in our leadership team, this spring I agreed with the Faculty Senate to proceed without delay to name a permanent provost,” Dr. LeMura said. “I’m grateful to all members of the Le Moyne community who have contributed to this successful process, and I wish Jim all the best as he continues to serve Le Moyne in an administrative capacity.”