Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Belinda Batten serves as chief academic and operating officer of Oregon State University, overseeing progress toward the University’s goals in enrollment, education, scholarship and faculty excellence, public engagement, internationalization, technology, and leadership development.
Dr. Batten began her appointment as the interim provost on April 1. In her interim role, Dr. Batten will provide leadership for a comprehensive portfolio including OSU’s academic colleges, several administrative divisions and offices, and the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. She has agreed to serve in the position until a new provost and executive vice president begins.
Previously, Dr. Batten served as senior advisor to the provost, providing research, planning, and execution for select university-level strategic initiatives and projects, including the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex. In her career at OSU, Dr. Batten has held a host of leadership roles, including Executive Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and director of the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (now the Pacific Marine Energy Center). As a professor of mechanical engineering, her research includes dynamics and control of wave energy converters. Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy. She received her Ph.D. from Clemson University, her M.S. from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her B.S. from the University of Maryland.