Incoming vice provost for faculty looks to bring sense of belonging among professors

The new vice provost for faculty will start officially on Aug. 1, leading programs such as the RAISE initiative. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State University

Incoming Ohio State Vice Provost for Faculty grew up traveling across many countries. He said he learned a lot about different cultures but struggled to find his own identity until he came to the U.S. and was able to combine his several backgrounds. 

Louchouarn said he hopes to use his experience as an immigrant and administrator to create a sense of community among professors. Effective Aug. 1, Louchouarn will oversee programs and initiatives that look to enhance diversity and the tenure of professors. 

Louchouarn said both his experience as the current interim vice provost for faculty affairs and interdisciplinary initiatives at Texas A&M University and career preferences made this position a perfect fit for him.

“I could have not dreamed of someone putting all of the elements that I would want to do in one job,” Louchouarn said. “So this is, in a sense, my dream job.”

Louchouarn’s work at Texas A&M led to an increase in faculty from underrepresented groups, Executive Vice President and Provost Melissa L. Gilliam said in the May 26 release. He also eliminated gender-based salary inequities at the university’s Galveston campus.

At Ohio State, Louchouarn will oversee programs such as the RAISE initiative, which looks to enhance the university’s research programs on race, equity and social inclusion, as well as the Provost’s Early Career Scholars Program — an initiative that helps to advance early-career tenure-track fellows to assistant professors — according to the release.

Gilliam said Louchouarn will impact the careers of the more than 7,500 Ohio State faculty from before they arrive until they leave the university. 

“The senior vice provost will set a bold vision and lead a transformational plan to support faculty from pre-recruitment to retirement,” Gillam said.

University spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email the Office of Academic Affairs launched a national search in January, taking nominations from students, faculty and staff into account.

Booker said Louchouarn was chosen based on his work at Texas A&M — including leadership in faculty hiring, awards, promotion and tenure processes and interdisciplinary initiatives.

Louchouarn said he was born in France, but his family moved to Mexico when he was young. He moved to Canada to attend McGill University for his undergraduate degree, before attending University of Québec in Montréal where he received his doctorate in environmental science.

Louchouarn said he then moved to New York for a time, followed by Texas — where he has lived for the longest period in his life. Coming to the U.S. helped him combine his several backgrounds and gave him a sense of comfort, he said

“I always felt that I was seeking identity, being an immigrant, being a mosaic of cultures,” Louchouarn said. “I could feel that I could be exactly that in the U.S.”

Louchouarn said he hopes to bring the same inclusion and comfort to professors at Ohio State.

“If we could really replicate that for every single person that joined Ohio State — a sense of belongingness,” Louchouarn said. “That’s what I’m supposed to do for the faculty.”