John Floros, president of New Mexico State University, announced the selection of April Mason, Ph.D. as Interim Provost in a statement yesterday. Mason will serve from Nov. 1 through mid-May 2019.

Mason is a former colleague of Floros when he was a dean at Kansas State University. Mason served as provost and senior vice president from Jan. 2010 to June 2018 at KSU. Floros was a candidate to replace Mason as provost of KSU when he was appointed by the NMSU Board of Regents as president in May.

According to the statement, Mason served as Chair of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities Council of Chief Academic Affairs, which is a group concomitant with the American Council of Education.

Mason earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Mount Union and her master’s degree in botany and doctorate degree in nutrition from Purdue University.

Mason has held previous faculty and administrative positions at Purdue University and Colorado State University.

The previous provost, Dan Howard, retired Aug 1. Floros wrote in a July memo to staff and faculty that he would serve as provost until an interim was selected. In the memo, he asked for nominations for the position from the NMSU community.

A national search for a provost to take Mason’s place is currently underway.