Walter Harris, Jr., Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. Harris joined Loyola University New Orleans in July 2003 as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He serves as both the second ranking officer and chief academic officer of the university with specific responsibility for all educational planning and administration and for the development of academic programs, faculty scholarship, and educational policies.
Prior to his appointment as provost, Dr. Harris was senior executive fellow at the University of North Carolina (UNC) System Office in Chapel Hill where he worked with the Office of Public Affairs and University Advancement on state and federal issues pertinent to higher education. Before joining UNC, he served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of music at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham. During his tenure in office at NCCU, he chaired the university’s most comprehensive strategic planning process ever and worked with the faculty to rewrite the tenure and promotion policies and procedures for the first time in nearly two decades. Under his leadership, graduate studies were restructured in order to elevate graduate programs and bring emphasis to the university’s research enterprise and the first Board of Trustees/Board of Governors-approved campus tuition plan was developed, which generated tuition revenue on top of the regular across-the-board system tuition increase.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Knoxville College, a master’s degree and a doctorate from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Dr. Harris began his career in higher education at Knoxville College in Tennessee in 1969 where he spent 11 years in a variety of positions including chair of the Department of Arts and Music, director of choral activities, and director of the Division of Arts and Humanities. He spent the next 20 years at Arizona State University in Tempe where he held various teaching and administrative positions including coordinator of the outreach program and coordinator of undergraduate advisement in the School of Music. Dr. Harris was later appointed assistant dean, acting dean, and associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, rising through the administrative ranks to become assistant vice president of academic affairs and eventually vice provost of academic affairs, a position he held for eight years.
In addition to his administrative accomplishments, Dr. Harris is a noted musician and performer. Having studied choral conducting with some of the leading conductors of our time, including Robert Shaw, Charles Hirt, and Joseph Flummerfeldt, his own choirs have been especially fine ensembles. He has performed throughout the country with his college, civic, and other choirs and has performed internationally with a number of choral ensembles. Dr. Harris has been a prolific piano accompanist, having accompanied hundreds of professional and amateur singers and instrumentalists in solo recitals and other performances. Also, he has taught in the area of music history and has had a particular interest in the music of African-Americans and its relationship to the music of Africa. He carried out field research in countries of West Africa, including Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Senegal. His research has been supported by the National Endowment, Luce, and Arizona State University.
Walter Harris, Jr. , Ph.D
Provost/Vice President, Academic Affairs
E-mail: wharris@loyno.edu
Office: Marquette Hall 221
Phone: (504)865-3034
Campus PO Box: 007