Science and Mathematics Dean Douglas Leaman named interim provost of Wright State

Douglas Leaman

Douglas Leaman, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, has agreed to serve as interim provost of Wright State University. He will join the leadership team of Provost Susan Edwards, who will become the university’s eighth president on Jan. 1.

Leaman joined Wright State as dean in October 2016 after 15 years of service at the University of Toledo.

Under Leaman’s leadership as dean, the Wright State College of Science and Mathematics has fostered an environment aimed at providing all students with hands-on opportunities to conduct meaningful work in their chosen field, including identifying undergraduate research, internship, externship, co-op and shadowing opportunities. The college strives to instill within its students an innovative spirit that encourages new, interdisciplinary ways of thinking to identify solutions to long-standing problems. Leaman believes in creating a learning environment that provides students with the opportunities and skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond.

Before joining Wright State, Leaman served as chair and professor of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toledo, project scientist at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center and scientific director of Gemini Technologies.

Leaman is an innate immunologist, specializing in biochemical and physiological aspects of host-virus interactions. He continues to run a successful research laboratory, giving him insight into current trends in the life and physical sciences and an advantage in an administrative position that requires a strong appreciation of the role that faculty scholarship plays in the education of future Wright State graduates

He earned his bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and master’s degree in molecular growth and development from The Ohio State University and his Ph.D. in molecular biology/reproductive physiology from the University of Missouri.

Wright State plans to conduct a search for the permanent provost position in fall 2020.