Daniel A. Wubah named vice president and dean for undergraduate education
Daniel A. Wubah, associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs at the University of Florida, has been named vice president and dean for undergraduate education at Virginia Tech. He will begin his new position Feb. 1, 2009.
Wubah will succeed David R. Ford who will retire Dec. 31. Jerry Niles, former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, will serve as interim vice president for one month beginning Jan. 1, 2009.
“I am very pleased that Dr. Daniel Wubah will be joining us,” said Mark McNamee, senior vice present and provost at Virginia Tech. “He is an experienced administrator who will provide outstanding leadership for our university-wide undergraduate programs and initiatives and for our key academic administrative units, including admissions, registrar, and financial aid. His energy, enthusiasm, and vision will help us propel undergraduate education to new heights at Virginia Tech.”
“I am honored and thrilled for this opportunity to serve as the next vice president and dean of undergraduate education at Virginia Tech,” said Wubah. “I was very impressed with the quality of students when I visited the campus. The genuine commitment to academic excellence, exceptional faculty, and a dedicated staff in a caring community attracted me to this position. This university is poised to be a national leader among its peers and I look forward to working with my fellow senior administrators to achieve this goal.”
As vice president and dean for undergraduate education, Wubah will provide leadership for undergraduate education at Virginia Tech. He will oversee the Office of Academic Support Services (Center for Academic Enrichment and Excellence, Multicultural Academic Opportunities Programs, University Studies/University Academic Advising Center, and Student Athlete Academic Support Services), The Office of Enrollment Management (Undergraduate Admissions, University Registrar, and University Scholarships and Financial Aid), The Office of Distance Learning and Summer Sessions (Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning, and University Summer Sessions), and the Office of Undergraduate Education (University Honors Program, Academic Assessment, Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and University Writing Program, and Undergraduate Programs).
The associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs at the University of Florida since 2007, Wubah was responsible for undergraduate education, enrollment management, degree tracking, assessment, academic support, and honors programs.
Wubah also held the position of professor of zoology at Florida. He will hold a position as professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech. A microbiologist who studied the obligately anaerobic zoosporic fungi, dehalogenation of polychlorinated biphenyls and fiber degradation in the wood-eating catfish, Panaque, he has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses including general microbiology, medical microbiology, microbial ecology and mycology. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings and technical reports.
He has received several research and training grants from federal agencies and private sources and has served as a consultant for several agencies including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, National Research Council, and Quality Education for Minorities Network. He currently serves on advisory boards for the NSF Biology Directorate, the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Program at the University of Arizona. Wubah is a member of the board of directors for Project Kaleidoscope and the National Aquarium in Washington D.C.
Wubah began his academic career at Towson University in 1992 where he later became the chair of the Department of Biology. He then served as associate dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, special assistant to the president, and professor of biology at James Madison University from 2000 to 2007 before moving to the University of Florida.
While at James Madison University, he designed and established the Centennial Scholars Program to provide access to students from under-represented groups in Virginia. For the past six years, he has directed a summer research program in Ghana that focuses on ecology, ethnobotany, conservation and environmental biology.
Wubah earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, a master’s degree from the University of Akron, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. In addition, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency research lab in Athens, Ga.
Wubah and his wife, Judith, have two daughters.
