Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser 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.
Since his appointment in 2017, Provost Feser has guided the development and implementation of the university’s institutional strategy, as articulated in Vision 2030 (2017), Transformation, Excellence and Impact (OSU’s 2019-23 strategic plan); and Prosperity Widely Shared (OSU’s 2024-30 strategic plan). The latter prioritizes actions and investments to nearly double research expenditures, significantly increase student retention and graduation rates, greatly expand access to an OSU degree through on-site and online modalities, and increase the university’s impact in economic and workforce development. Among major initiatives underway are the development of PRAx (the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts which opened in April 2024), the Jen-Hsun and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex (opening in 2026), the Administrative Modernization Program, the expansion of OSU-Cascades, and implementation of a new undergraduate general education curriculum.
Provost Feser is a specialist in regional economic development, innovation, and technology policy. Prior to joining OSU, he held faculty and leadership roles at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria and has served in state government as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Research, and Strategic Planning in the North Carolina Department of Commerce. He holds a BA in government from the University of San Francisco and PhD and master’s degrees in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.