Hannan to serve as Edinboro University interim president

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors voted to change Dr. Michael Hannan’s title from acting president to interim president of Edinboro University on April 5.

Hannan has been serving as the acting president since March 30, following former Edinboro President Dr. H. Fred Walker’s resignation. 

“Mike is a trusted colleague who has the full confidence of the Edinboro community,” said PASSHE Interim Chancellor Dr. Karen Whitney in a press release. “He will be a tremendous addition to our leadership team.”

“I am honored to have been selected to serve as Edinboro’s interim president, a university I have proudly served for 30 years,” Hannan said in the press release. “I am confident in the advancements we have made and will continue to make toward a bright future for Edinboro.”

He continued: “As a campus community, we will build on our recent progress on many important initiatives to ensure that we continue to provide a great value for the working class students and families we serve. For 160 years, Edinboro has transformed the lives of generations of students through access to quality higher education and we will continue that work for many years to come.”

In an email sent on Tuesday afternoon, Hannan announced Dr. Jim Fisher of the history, politics, languages and cultures department will be the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. 

The email stated that Fisher served for six years as chairperson of the political science and criminal justice department, has been a member of the executive council of APSCUF and served on the board of directors of local and state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“I look forward to working with Dr. Fisher, the university leadership team and the team and the entire campus community to further advance Edinboro in the weeks and months ahead. I am quite confident that together we will make tremendous,” said Hannan in the email.

Additionally, in an email sent out to university faculty on Tuesday that was obtained by The Spectator, Hannan announced Carol Webster, the executive assistant to the president and Walker’s chief of staff, is resigning, effective April 12. 

Kerri Watson, who retired in December 2017, and was formerly the assistant to the dean for the school of business and college of arts, humanities and social sciences, will serve as interim executive assistant to the president. 

“I am grateful for Kerri’s willingness to return to the university to serve in this important role,” Hannan stated in the email.

As the state system policy in place states, the interim president cannot apply for the permanent presidential position, when that search process begins. Hannan is now ineligible to become the permanent president of Edinboro.

Dakota Palmer can be reached at edinboro.spectator@gmail.com.

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