Wayne State University President Allan Gilmour announced the appointment of Margaret E. Winters as interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, effective April 8, 2013. Winters will hold the position until the university names a permanent provost following a national search.

Winters, who currently serves as associate provost and associate vice president for academic personnel, will succeed Ronald T. Brown, who has accepted the position of president at the University of North Texas at Dallas.

Winters has held various leadership positions during her 11 years at Wayne State, including chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and founding chair of the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. In her current position, she played a lead role in the negotiation of Wayne State's recently ratified collective bargaining contract with the faculty and academic staff union.



"Margaret is highly respected by everyone at Wayne State," said Gilmour. "Her credentials and experience make her an excellent choice as chief academic officer of our institution. We are fortunate to have someone of her caliber step into this vital role."



Prior to joining Wayne State, Winters spent 25 years at Southern Illinois University Carbondale teaching French and linguistics, and serving in the university's academic administration. She was an SIU associate provost for several years and interim provost from 2000 to 2002.

A native of New York City, she attended Brooklyn College and earned graduate degrees at the University of California Riverside (M.A.) and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.). Her ongoing research is in historical linguistics and, more specifically, change in grammar over time.