Wilson, Gladding to Assume Provost’s Duties at WFU

Two weeks after Wake Forest University’s provost announced he will devote his full attention to a new Wake Forest-IBM project, the university’s president has arranged for the provost’s responsibilities to be assumed January 1 by English professor and former provost Edwin Graves Wilson and counseling professor and presidential assistant Samuel T. Gladding.

University president Thomas K. Hearn Jr. announced that Wilson will chair the Council of Deans, and that the deans will report to Wilson. Wilson, who served as the university’s provost until 1990, will become senior vice president in January.

Gladding will assume responsibility for various administrative departments, including admissions and financial aid, institutional research, registrar, and research and sponsored programs. His new title will be associate provost.

Hearn does not plan to fill the provost’s position in the near future. In a letter to faculty, Hearn wrote that Wake Forest has “an outstanding group of deans and experienced leadership” in Wilson and Gladding.

Provost David G. Brown announced Nov. 21 that he was accepting a position with the newly formed International Center for Computer Enhanced Learning (ICCEL) at Wake Forest. A Wake Forest-IBM collaboration, ICCEL is in part a consulting service to help others in higher education identify ways for them to incorporate technology in teaching and learning. Wake Forest is recognized as a national leader for innovative use of computers in teaching.

Brown will begin devoting full time to the new initiative in January. Next summer, his title at Wake Forest will switch from provost to vice president for special programs.

ICCEL is a unit with Wake Forest’s finance and administration department. It will report to John P. Anderson, vice president for finance and administration.

An English professor, Wilson has held administrative and teaching positions at Wake Forest for decades. After joining the English faculty in 1951, Wilson served as assistant dean of the College in 1957-58 and dean from 1958 to 1967. He was appointed provost in 1967 and held that position until 1990, when he became vice president for special projects. Since 1994, he has focused primarily on teaching. He received a bachelor’s degree in English at Wake Forest in 1943. He earned his master’s degree and doctorate in English at Harvard.

Gladding joined Wake Forest in 1990 as professor of counseling and assistant to the president for special projects. At Wake Forest, Gladding directs the counselor education program and chairs the Fund for Ethics and Leadership and the mini-grant committee for the university’s Year of Religion in American Life. Some previous activities include serving as interim chair of the religion department and faculty sponsor for the City of Joy Scholars.

Gladding, who served as president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision in 1996-97, has written numerous textbooks on counseling. They include “Family Therapy: History, Theory and Practice” and “Counseling: A Comprehensive Profession.” Gladding received a bachelor’s degree in history at Wake Forest in 1967. He also received a master’s in counseling at Wake Forest, a master’s in religion at Yale and a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.