Dear Oregon State University Community Members:
It is with deep gratitude for his leadership that I write to share that Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser has accepted an appointment as Saint Louis University’s 34th president. His last day in the OSU Provost’s Office will be Monday, March 31.
Serving Oregon State as a valued colleague of four OSU presidents, Ed joined the university as its chief academic and operating officer in 2017. He led the successful development and implementation of Strategic Plan 4.0: Transformation, Excellence and Impact as well as Prosperity Widely Shared: The Oregon State Plan, the latter of which is OSU’s fifth and most ambitious strategic plan to date.
Ed is an extraordinarily effective and productive leader. His accomplishments at OSU are too many to list here. Highlights include the elevation and strengthening of OSU’s enrollment management function, development of the organizational framework and resourcing for the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx), development of the Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, implementation and reform of the university’s budget model, oversight of the extensive organizational change management phase and early implementation of the Administrative Modernization Program, the creation of the Division of Educational Ventures, and the launch of the university’s new approach to supporting economic development and industry relations. Ed has also hired, onboarded and mentored over 20 OSU senior leaders, including deans and vice provosts, and he has championed collaborative team leadership across the academic and administrative domains.
As provost, Ed has worked tirelessly and with an unwavering commitment to academic and research excellence, advancing our efforts to increase student success and faculty excellence and raising the profile of the university. He has partnered with OSU Foundation leadership and academic deans to ensure the success of the Believe It! capital campaign. He has overseen OSU’s Ecampus, INTO OSU joint venture, Portland Center and OSU-Cascades, as well as the university’s Extension and Statewide Public Service Programs.
Ed led the university’s planning and response efforts during the pandemic and served as Acting President during the spring of 2021.
I could continue with this list of accomplishments and positive impacts and double the size of this letter, but instead I’d like to add a more personal note. Ed has been an invaluable colleague to me since I joined OSU two years ago. I am deeply appreciative of his advice, partnership and collaboration. His determined and indomitable work on behalf of Oregon State will benefit faculty and students for decades to come.
A national search for OSU’s next Provost and Executive Vice President will launch immediately with more details to be shared with you in January.
Ed, we wish you and Kathy all the best at SLU. Go Billikens and Go Beavs!
Sincerely,
Jayathi Y. Murthy
President