Rickabaugh named Interim VP for
Academic Affairs and Academic Dean

	Dr. Timothy Rickabaugh

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Dr. Timothy Rickabaugh will serve as interim vice president for academic affairs and academic dean at Defiance College beginning June 15. Appointed for a two-year term, Rickabaugh will serve as chief academic officer while maintaining his existing responsibilities as professor of exercise science. 

Mark Gordon, who will take over as president of Defiance College on July 1, says of Dr. Rickabaugh, “I am really looking forward to working with Tim. He is a distinguished member of the faculty and I am confident he will be an effective leader as we work toward even greater levels of academic excellence.”

Rickabaugh will fill the position of chief academic officer due to the departure later this summer of Dr. Catharine O’Connell, provost, who will assume the chief academic officer role at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia. O’Connell is also serving as Defiance College’s acting president until June 30.

Rickabaugh has been an active member of the DC community since coming to the college in 1997 as assistant professor of sport science.  In 1998, he took on additional responsibilities as head coach of the women’s soccer team and was selected as Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2001.  He has been actively involved with student engagement and service learning at Defiance College, traveling with students on service learning trips to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, to Jamaica, to Cambodia as an Associate Fellow of the McMaster School for Advancing Humanity and most recently on the Civil Rights alternative spring break tour.  Rickabaugh was recently chosen by his colleagues to receive the Distinguished Faculty Award for 2009.

Rickabaugh received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University, his master’s from Miami University, and his bachelor’s from Ohio Wesleyan. 

He and his wife, Rosanne, have two children, Andrew and Abby, and reside in Defiance.

Other changes to the academic administration include additional duties for Associate Academic Dean Susan Wajert who will be taking on added responsibilities regarding accreditation matters, and Associate Academic Dean Don Knueve who will work with the new president to establish external advisory groups for academic programs.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate majors as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of engagement. U. S. News & World Report ranks Defiance in the top tier of comprehensive colleges in the Midwest. The college website is www.defiance.edu.

May 27, 2009