Curriculum Vita

SHIRLEY STRUM KENNY

Interim President, Augusta State University

Shirley Strum Kenny, former president of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has been named interim president of Augusta State effective July 1. Her appointment, announced by University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby , follows the planned retirement from that role of William A. Bloodworth, Jr.

Kenny, the first woman to be named to the presidencies of Stony Brook and Queens , will serve as the interim president until the consolidation of ASU and Georgia Health Sciences University, after which GHSU President Ricardo Azziz will become president of the consolidated university.

As president, among Kenny’s goals at Stony Brook was to create a new model of education for undergraduates at research universities. She established the National Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University to further this goal.

Through collaborating with businesses and corporations, she also was able to involve the university in addressing workforce initiatives, thereby strengthening relationships with business and community partners.

Kenny has served as a member of the boards of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the Long Island Association, and the Fulbright Association among others. She has been honored as Outstanding Woman at the University of Maryland, Outstanding Alumnus at the University of Chicago, recipient of the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, and outstanding alumnus of the College of Communications at the University of Texas at Austin.

She earned bachelor degrees in English and journalism from the University of Texas, Austin, a master’s from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and a doctoral degree from the University of Chicago.

She served as the chair of the Department of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, and taught at several institutions in New York, Maryland, Delaware and Texas.

She has served on a number of boards of directors, including Goodwill Industries of New York, the Seagram Scholarship Board, Queens Lighthouse for the Blind, Chase Manhattan Bank Regional Advisory Board, and the New York Stock Exchange Nominating Committee.

A published author, Kenny has books on the theatre to her name as well as a wide range of articles related to the theatre and higher education.