The UP Board of Regents has chosen Provost Dr. Herbert A. Medina as Acting President effective July 1, succeeding Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., who announced in February that he would conclude his tenure at UP after 10 years on campus – the last seven as UP’s 20th president.
Consistent with University bylaws, the appointment of Provost Medina as Acting President reaches within UP’s internal ranks while plans are developed for a national search to hire a permanent successor to Fr. Poorman.
“We are grateful that Dr. Medina has accepted this acting presidency as enthusiastically prepare to resume an active campus life and a normal academic year this fall,” said Tom Arndorfer, Board of Regents chair. “Dr. Medina is an exemplary scholar, teacher, administrator and chief academic officer for our UP community. He will be a superb leader of the UP mission.”
“I am humbled and excited that the Board trusts me to lead the University in this crucial transition phase,” said Dr. Medina. “I will continue to listen to our community and follow our Catholic and Holy Cross mission. There’s much work to do as we come out of the pandemic, and I am looking forward to collaborating with students, staff, faculty, university leadership and Board members to make sure we emerge a stronger institution from these very challenging times.”
Dr. Medina’s appointment as Provost began July 1, 2020, after serving as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) and as Professor of Mathematics since 2018. His leadership of CAS was driven by a devotion to student wellbeing and success; dedication to faculty support and development; and unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. These same attributes have also become foundational underpinnings to Dr. Medina’s service as provost and chief academic officer. In addition to guiding UP’s Academic Division through the pandemic ensuring that students are able to thrive and graduate in a modified academic environment, he has been a champion of continued experiential learning opportunities, and has played an important role in ensuring that issues of diversity, equity and inclusion are front and center in faculty and staff searches at the University.
An exemplary teacher-scholar, Dr. Medina has earned widespread recognition for his research in functional analysis, wavelets, and polynomial approximations as well as his work in diversifying and broadening access in STEM. He is deeply committed to the University’s Catholic and Holy Cross mission and its call for community members to be engaged in the work of social justice, radical hospitality, and advancement of the Catholic intellectual tradition. As an academic leader and a colleague, Dr. Medina’s style is communicative, transparent, collaborative, compassionate, passionate and humbly confident.
Prior to joining UP, Dr. Medina enjoyed a highly successful 26-year career as a professor and administrative leader at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He was Associate Dean of LMU’s Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering before his appointment as CAS Dean at UP. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Medina was born in El Salvador; came to the United States at the age of eight along with his family; and is a proud first-generation college student. He is passionate about increasing higher education participation among underrepresented groups. Among his many accomplishments and awards, Dr. Medina was recognized by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science with the 2014 Distinguished Undergraduate Institution Mentor Award.