(Update: The Board of Regents voted to approve Laurie McCauley’s appointment as provost at its Feb. 16 meeting.)
Following a year of inspired leadership as provost, Laurie K. McCauley has been recommended for a full term as the University of Michigan’s chief academic and budgetary officer.
The recommendation by President Santa J. Ono will be considered by the Board of Regents at its Feb. 16 meeting. McCauley’s original appointment was from May 16, 2022, until June 30, 2023. Her reappointment takes effect March 1 and runs through June 30, 2027.
“Since her appointment in May 2022, Provost McCauley has brought steadfast and inspired leadership to the role of the institution’s chief academic and budgetary officer,” Ono said.
“She has launched initiatives on student success, faculty hiring, increased support of faculty, review of professional standards, and campus academic infrastructure. Provost McCauley has become an integral part of the executive leadership team of the university providing critical support and insight during the recent presidential transition and helping to shape new initiatives and priorities.”
McCauley also is the William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Professor of Periodontics and professor of dentistry in the School of Dentistry, and professor of pathology in the Medical School.
She was dean of the School of Dentistry from 2013 until her appointment as provost. During her almost nine-year tenure, she galvanized the school around a shared vision that focuses on five domains: people, education, research and discovery, patient care and responsible growth and sustainability.
McCauley was one of the longest serving deans among the university’s current academic leadership group, stepping up to lead campus educational efforts in performance, laboratory and studio pedagogy during the pandemic. She also led efforts to review professional standards and was the academic co-lead on planning efforts for the university’s next major capital campaign.
“I am honored to continue to lead the academic and budgetary mission on our campus. I am committed to promoting academic excellence and providing an environment where students, staff and faculty can optimize their potential,” McCauley said.
“Working together, we will ensure that our campus remains a place of innovation, inclusivity, creativity and growth for years to come.”
Under her leadership and support as dean, the dental school was ranked No. 1 in the United States for seven consecutive years by QS World University Rankings, and No. 1 in the world for five consecutive years by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy.
McCauley oversaw a transformative $142 million expansion and renovation project of the school’s clinical and education facilities with funding secured from the state of Michigan, institutional and donor sources.
She earned all of her degrees from The Ohio State University: a Bachelor of Science in education, Master of Science in dentistry, a Doctor of Dental Surgery, and a Ph.D. in veterinary pathobiology. She was engaged in private practice limited to periodontics in Marysville, Ohio, from 1988-91 and joined U-M as an assistant professor in 1992, becoming a professor in 2001.
In 2002, she was appointed an associate professor of pathology in the Medical School, becoming a professor in 2009. From 2002-12, she chaired the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine in the School of Dentistry.
McCauley’s visiting scientist and visiting professor appointments include the Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire, the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, and the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at the Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
For more than 25 years, McCauley has led an active research program in hormonal controls of bone remodeling, parathyroid hormone anabolic actions in bone and prostate cancer skeletal metastasis while actively engaged in teaching and clinical practice.
She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and among her many other recognitions are the inaugural Paula Stern Achievement Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, a distinguished scientist award from the International Association for Dental Research and a distinguished alumna award from Ohio State.
She also has received the Ida Gray Award for contributions to the advancement of diversity and improvement in the climate at the School of Dentistry, and the Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research from the American Dental Association.
