The Board of Trustees Talent, Compensation and Governance Committee met Wednesday morning and made multiple appointments. Karla Zadnik and Jeffrey Walline face full board approval Thursday to become interim executive vice president and provost and dean of the College of Optometry, respectively. Photo credit: Brie Blevins | Lantern reporter

The Board of Trustees Talent, Compensation and Governance Committee appointed Karla Zadnik, current dean of the College of Optometry and interim dean of the College of Public Health, as interim executive vice president and provost Wednesday morning. 

According to an email from interim university President Peter Mohler, the full board will consider Zadnik on Thursday and if approved, her term will begin Jan. 1, 2024. Zadnik said she is excited to lead Ohio State’s academic mission and will work with outgoing Provost Melissa Gilliam before Gilliam takes over as president of Boston University at the start of the new year.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to help steward and move forward the incredible work of our faculty, staff and students — all of whom fuel Ohio State’s fundamental mission to teach, learn and discover,” Zadnik said.  

Jeffrey Walline, current associate dean for research in optometry at Ohio State, also faces board approval to take over Zadnik’s current position in the college. Walline is the president-elect of the American Academy of Optometry, a national organization dedicated to educating optometrists through research cooperation, according to its website.

Zadnik, a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of California, Berkeley, has worked at Ohio State since 1996. She joined the university as a professor and became the College of Optometry’s first female dean in 2014.

In addition, Zadnik chaired the Biomedical Sciences Institutional Review Board at Ohio State for ten years, according to the College of Optometry.

Walline, who received his master’s and Ph.D. from Ohio State, joined the university as an associate professor in 2005. He has been associate dean for research for nearly a decade. 

Mohler said both appointees bring valuable experience to their appointments. 

“Dr. Zadnik brings outstanding credentials and deep leadership experience to the role of the university’s chief academic office,” Mohler said. “We also welcome Dr. Walline, a highly talented scholar and established leader, to his new role. The university is grateful to both for their continued excellence in service to Ohio State.”

According to a press release, Ohio State ​​will announce the search committee for its next executive vice president and provost in the coming weeks.