PNW named Ralph O. Mueller its first vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost on July 15. Mueller succeeds Karen Schmid, who served the role of vice chancellor for Academic Affairs for PNC and interim vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost for PUC.

“I chose PNW because of the opportunity to be the first provost and for the beginning of building new cultures and programs,” Mueller said. “My biggest motivator is success. Student success won’t happen without faculty success.”

Thomas Keon, PNW chancellor, said Mueller’s understanding of human behavior stood out amongst the four candidates interviewed for the position.

“He put [into place] a program at Hartford called Excellence through Relevance, which really helped retention,” Keon said. “He has a keen interest in diversity. Hartford is a diverse school like ours, and what we know about first generation students is that they need more support in achieving their degree completion.”

Keon said PNW’s emphasis is student success and that one of the goals is to increase four- and six-year graduation rates.

“While we’ve done a bit to solve that, as we get into his tenure we hope to see significant results in degree completion,” Keon said.

Originally from Germany, Mueller traveled to the United States to attend Elon University, then Elon College, for his undergraduate degree in mathematics on a Rotary scholarship.

“I must have been one of the first international students [at Elon College] and was a little celebrity there. It was a small school, and it didn’t take long for everyone to know me,” Mueller said. “Then I went back to Germany and a huge university, Essen, and no one knew me over there.”

Mueller returned to the U.S. and completed his bachelor’s degree at Elon. He then went on to receive a master’s degree in mathematics from Wake Forest before earning his doctoral degree from Virginia Tech.

“Then came the time to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. I really liked teaching and my first position was at [the University of] Toledo. I got tenure, but decided to relocate and broaden my horizons. A position became available at George Washington University, and it was probably the most formative of my professional career.”

After 16 years at George Washington, Mueller accepted the position of Dean of the University of Hartford’s College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions in 2009 before his appointment at PNW.

“The big challenge is to take two previously individual institutions and to bring them into one. That will require change on the collegiate structure, faculty governance, student governance and will continue to drive change on both the institutional side and the operational side,” Mueller said.

“A lot of times people want change, but when you implement change, that’s what makes it particularly interesting.”

Mueller said he views the provost position as running the institution from the inside and providing support.

“It’s about supportive leadership. I’m not going to tell people what to do. I’m going to support student success at PNW,” Mueller said. “I want to get to know students to the extent possible. I hope to meet students and be visible around campus.”