New Appointments Announced In Provost's Office
WACO, Texas -- Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. and Provost Donald D. Schmeltekopf today announced the appointment of three individuals to new leadership positions in the Office of the Provost.
Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey, associate provost and Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities, has been named senior vice provost; Dr. Thomas L. Charlton, vice provost for research and professor of history, has been appointed vice provost for administration; and Dr. Truell W. Hyde II, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the physics department, has been named vice provost for research.
"The appointments of Drs. Jeffrey, Charlton and Hyde to their new positions are very important moves in the academic leadership of Baylor at this particular time," Dr. Schmeltekopf said. "Nothing is more crucial for us now than the recruitment of outstanding faculty, our efforts to secure the Bush Presidential Library, and the enhancement of sponsored research, particularly in the sciences and technology. Drs. Jeffrey, Charlton and Hyde are well-positioned by background and experience to help us move forward in these respective areas in the years ahead."
In his new responsibilities as senior vice provost, Dr. Jeffrey will assist Dr. Schmeltekopf in the recruitment and interviewing of prospective faculty. Dr. Jeffrey, who will continue to serve as Distinguished Professor, joined the Baylor faculty from the University of Ottawa in the fall of 2000. He received his bachelor's degree from Wheaton College and his master's degree and doctorate from Princeton University. He began his tenure at Ottawa in 1978, serving as professor and chair of the English department. He was named inaugural Professor of the Year in 1995 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1996. A noted scholar in medieval studies and
the Bible and literature, Dr. Jeffrey is the author or editor of 12 books, including People of the Book: Christian Identity and Literary Culture, which was named one of Christianity Today's Top Ten Books of 1997.
As vice provost for administration, Dr. Charlton will focus much of his time and energy on Baylor's pursuit of the proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library Center. Dr. Charlton received his bachelor's degree from Baylor and his master's and doctorate in history from the University of Texas at Austin. He taught at UT-Austin in 1961-62, then from 1962-70 at San Antonio College. He joined the Baylor faculty in 1970 as assistant professor of history and served as the director of the program for regional studies from 1986-87. Dr. Charlton founded the program for oral history in 1970 and served as director until 1982. A year later, the program became the Institute for Oral History, with Dr. Charlton serving as its first director until 1993. He served as assistant vice president of academic affairs from 1992-94 and vice provost for academic affairs and research from 1994-98. Since 1998, he has served as vice provost for research.
Dr. Hyde, who also serves as director of the joint Baylor-Texas State Technical College Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER), will give leadership to the university's efforts to attract additional support for sponsored research, particularly scientific research. A graduate of Southern Nazarene University, Dr. Hyde earned his master's and doctoral degrees in physics from Baylor in 1981 and conducted post-doctoral research at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Kent at Canterbury. He taught math and physics at Navarro College from 1981-86, before joining the Baylor faculty, where he has taught and conducted extensive research in plasma physics, gravitoelectrodynamics, accretion shock, hypervelocity impact, and lasers, among other topics. His research proposals have resulted in over $25 million of funding awarded for space physics research programs.