Personnel Announcement: Welcoming the new chief of staff/associate provost in the Office of the Provost

July 7, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to share an important personnel update for the Office of the Provost — Jay Rowan has been appointed chief of staff and associate provost for strategy, effective Aug. 2.

Jay is a Brown graduate who joins us from Huron Consulting Group, where he has worked as a director of higher education strategy. As part of Brown’s engagement with Huron over the past few years, he has supported academic and administrative leaders across the University, including me, on a variety of projects at the School of Public Health, the Division of Biology and Medicine, the Division of Campus Life, the School of Professional Studies, and the Division of Pre-College and Summer Undergraduate Studies. Over the last year, Jay has played a key role supporting executive vice president Russell Carey in managing Brown’s COVID-19 testing program and vaccination tracking efforts. In addition to his work on our campus, Jay has spent more than 11 years leading strategic initiatives for higher education institutions across the country.

As chief of staff, Jay will work closely with me and senior staff members in the Office of the Provost to coordinate activities, enable strategic decision-making and reinforce clear channels of communication between the office and other senior leaders. He will supervise office staff and support our ongoing efforts to promote scholarship and academic excellence, including initiatives such as the Faculty in Focus series. As associate provost for strategy, Jay will manage a portfolio of important initiatives and strategic planning efforts that engage a wide range of constituents. Ultimately, he will play a central role in furthering our goals of advancing academic excellence, financial sustainability, operational excellence and community.

Jay earned his bachelor’s degree from Brown in 2008 with a concentration in medieval cultures and economics. As an undergraduate, he served as a Meiklejohn advisor, a peer career ambassador at the CareerLab, and a four-year member of the men’s rowing team. He also worked as an intern for the late Chancellor Emeritus Artemis Joukowsky and co-edited Ever True: The History of the Brown Crew. In 2015, Jay earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

I want to extend my gratitude to Shankar Prasad, deputy provost for strategic initiatives and vice president for academic innovation, and Beth Doherty, deputy provost for academic affairs, who co-chaired the search committee with me. In addition, I am grateful to Marisa Quinn for her assistance early in the search, and for her extensive contributions to Brown over many years, including most recently as chief of staff in the Office of the Provost.

I hope you will join me in welcoming Jay back to Brown when he arrives in August. I look forward to working with him in advancing the University’s mission and Building on Distinction, the University’s strategic plan.

Sincerely,

Richard M. Locke

Provost