Dear Colleagues,
I am thrilled to announce that Mike Ibba has accepted our offer as Chapman’s next Provost, Executive Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer, following a comprehensive and highly competitive national search. During the search process and throughout his time with Chapman as Dean of the Schmid College of Science and Technology and, most recently, as Interim Provost, he has continually proven himself to be a strategic, mission-driven, and student-centered leader. He has demonstrated his consistent ability to elevate our innovation and results, and I can’t wait to see how he takes our academic and research programs to new heights in this permanent role.
As many of you know, Mike is an internationally known and award-winning microbiologist and researcher who came to Chapman with significant R1 credentials from The Ohio State University. Beginning his tenure there in 2001, he held several progressively senior positions, ultimately serving as Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Associate Director of the Infectious Diseases Institute.
Notably, he chose to come to Chapman – in the middle of the pandemic – because he wanted to be a part of a university that prioritizes personalized education and student-focused research. He found both at Chapman, as well as a family of faculty, staff, and students who inspire him and his work every day.
As Dean, he advanced the Schmid College’s academic offerings and research footprint in meaningful ways. Among his achievements:
The college successfully increased total student enrollments by 9% and the total number of credits taught by 18%. Total grant funding awarded for research also increased by 300% with year-over-year publication growth.
Mike initiated the “Schmidterns” program, which provides paid summer internships for students to work in Schmid faculty labs and has an eye to professional development. The college launched evidence-based faculty mentor training as a requirement for faculty to participate in a new program that provides credit for mentoring undergraduate researchers. More than 150 peer–reviewed studies with Schmid undergraduate co-authors have been published since Mike’s arrival. He helped to develop and launch a new doctoral program in Math, Physics, and Philosophy, leveraging his 15 years of graduate leadership experience before moving to Chapman.
Since becoming Interim Provost earlier this year, Mike has already increased dialogue and collaboration, galvanized university-wide support for coordinating and deepening our AI presence and strategy, and helped Chapman navigate our new Global Citizen graduation requirement.
And this is just the beginning. Mike brings a big vision for strengthening our academic and research agendas to greater levels of excellence, and I am confident that he will engage you and our many other stakeholders in that endeavor.
In closing, I want to thank our search committee and Professor Lia Halloran for her tremendous and dedicated leadership in guiding our search process.
I hope you will join me in congratulating and supporting Mike as he starts a new chapter of his career – and Chapman’s.
Best,
Matt