Bunch named special assistant to provost
GREENVILLE, NC — Dr. Austin Bunch, chief of staff to the chancellor at East Carolina University, has been named special assistant to the provost, effective immediately.
Chancellor Steve Ballard and Interim Provost Marilyn Sheerer, jointly announcing the appointment, said Bunch has a rare combination of skill and experience that will be invaluable in assisting Sheerer in leading the new Division of Academic and Student Affairs. He will continue to provide support for special initiatives for the chancellor for an interim period.
Ballard said, “No one has been more valuable to my administration than Austin Bunch. He has a deep understanding of higher education and the relationships that support and nourish it. He is insightful, versatile and very nearly indefatigable. He has had a key role in the successes I have enjoyed at East Carolina.”
Sheerer said, “Austin’s breadth and depth of experience make him exactly the right person for this position. He has been a tenured faculty member, a department chair and a dean. He has developed academic programs, strengthened entire institutions and led special projects. Plus he has worked closely with university chief executives for nearly two decades. I look forward to his advice and counsel, and I am grateful to Dr. Ballard for agreeing to this new assignment.”
Bunch joined ECU in 1999 as assistant to the chancellor for constituent relations and was named chief of staff in 2001. He came to Greenville from Mississippi University for Women, where he was head of the division of interdisciplinary studies. He held several leadership roles at MUW including executive assistant to the president, dean for public service, vice president for institutional advancement, and executive director of public relations. He also held a tenured position as professor of education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and doctorate from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in education from Georgia State University. He attended the Institute for Management and Leadership at Harvard University in 1993.
# # #