Akron Magazine | Dec. 2019
Meeting Joseph Urgo, Interim Executive VP, and Provost
Dr. Joseph Urgo firmly believes that strength emerges from the inside out. A Hartford, Conn., native, Dr. Urgo joined UA last month as Interim Executive Vice President and Provost, and has met with several campus constituencies in his new role. He likes what he has seen and heard.
“It’s been a great pleasure to get an inside view,” said Dr. Urgo, whose wife, Lesley Dretar Urgo, is an Akron native. He’s watched UA from afar for nearly 40 years. “The University is an anchor institution in this city, an integral part of its past and is now destined to lead it into the future.”
A former president of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and former provost of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Dr. Urgo worked with UA President Gary L. Miller when both were department chairs at the University of Mississippi.
Dr. Urgo believes UA is ready to build on its national reputation in research and technology as well as capitalize on strengths in the arts and other areas. The people of the university community, coupled with its urban university mission, remain UA’s best assets.
“The people enliven this institution; they’re dedicated and ready to seize opportunities as they arise,” Urgo said. “Additionally, the current demographic of college-aged students has shown a propensity for urban living – less footprint, more pedestrian access – and this positions an urban university (like UA) well as a place for young people to hone their interests and professional passions.”
Non-traditional students looking to urban resources for retraining and credentialing, also represent areas of growth and engagement, Urgo said. “Akron is easily accessible to a large segment of the nation, with ah dramatic history of invention and re-invention. We have all the ingredients and are poised to rise.”
Dr. Urgo will work closely with UA’s ongoing strategic planning process, capitalizing on his strengths in attracting external financial support and aligning internal budget priorities.
“The relationship between budget priorities and institutional goals is at the heart of the strategic planning process, introduced by President Miller and now in full swing,” Dr. Urgo said. “No institution can be all things to all people, but strong institutions are often precisely what is needed at a particular time and place.
“Our planning process emphasizes our role as an urban research university, and when completed will have established priorities that guide us in budgeting, fundraising and student recruitment,” Dr. Urgo said.
“We are tremendously excited about finding effective access and opportunity for people seeking higher education. We will seek out a wide array of experience and preparation, employing holistic measures of admission, for example, seeking to capitalize on student potential,” Dr. Urgo said. “This, in turn, gives students more pathways toward success. Both the University and the city will thrive as we assist students in pursuing their personal and professional ambitions.”
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