Angela Laird Brenton, UALR’s dean of the College of Professional Studies who has been at the university for the past 29 years, has accepted a new position as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Western Carolina University.

The appointment, effective Aug. 1, was announced by WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher, who previously served as UALR’s vice chancellor and provost.

“Dr. Angi Brenton has been an excellent dean and is one of the most talented people I know. She has exhibited an ability to provide effective leadership for major undertakings both on and off campus,” said UALR Chancellor Joel E. Anderson.

“It won’t be long before Western Carolina University and the region of North Carolina around the university feel the good effects of her presence. I am most grateful for her service as dean here, and I wish her and her family all the best as she becomes provost at WCU.”

Brenton cited Anderson as well as former chancellor Charles Hathaway, interim Provost Sandra Robertson, Vice Chancellor Charles Donaldson, and former Professional Studies dean John Gray as “generous mentors.”

“I came to UALR in the fall of 1982 with a new Ph.D., and in many ways this institution has formed and shaped me,” Brenton said. “My views on access to education, putting student success first, community engagement, and fostering innovation were nurtured here. It is hard to leave the faculty, staff, and students who have become like my family. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had for growth and leadership, and will always have a special place in my heart for UALR.”

Dean at UALR since 2001, Brenton was responsible for the departments of audiology and speech pathology, criminal justice, and speech communication, the School of Social Work, the School of Mass Communication, the Institute of Government, public radio stations KLRE-KUAR, and the Mid-South Center, which is responsible for all child welfare training in the state of Arkansas. She oversees 150 faculty and staff in a college with an annual budget of $12 million.

She has been awarded $7.7 million in annual grants and contracts for UALR, with a grant-writing success rate of 84 percent, and has helped raise approximately $7.2 million in endowments and external support for scholarships, research equipment, clinical programs, and faculty development. Under her leadership, UALR developed three new doctoral programs and graduate certificate programs in conflict mediation and nonprofit management.

Brenton spearheaded the creation of a Leadership Academy to nurture future faculty and staff leaders and led several initiatives aimed at improving race relations within the community. She developed six centers within the college to serve as a focus for research and community outreach, including the Center for Environmental Criminology, the Center for Senior Justice, the Center for Juvenile Justice, the Center for Stuttering Treatment and Research, the Center for Public Collaboration, and the Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

Prior to joining the administration at UALR, Brenton was dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for research and service at Abilene Christian University and head of the department of communication and mass media at Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State.

She holds a doctorate in communication studies from the University of Kansas, master’s degree in communication from the University of Oklahoma, and bachelor’s degrees in mass communication and speech communication from Oklahoma Christian College. She earned a management and leadership in higher education certificate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.