A New Academic Year at Wake Forest
September 9, 2026
Dear faculty colleagues,
As I begin my second year as Interim Provost, I remain grateful for the opportunity to serve Wake Forest. Every day, I’m reminded of the strength of our academic community and the dedication of our faculty to the students we teach and mentor. You educate our students, produce scholarship that drives discovery and improves lives, and shape the intellectual life of this University. My job, and the job of the Provost’s Office, is to support you and help make that work possible.
This is also a moment of real momentum. President Peter Rodriguez brings energy and vision to Wake Forest, and I know many of you share my excitement about what we can accomplish together. He is eager to get to know you, and we are working together to create opportunities for that engagement throughout the year.
The search for Wake Forest’s next Provost is underway, with opportunities for community input beginning this week and continuing through a forthcoming survey. As President Rodriguez has shared, identifying the right person for this role is one of his highest priorities. I’ll support the search however I can and encourage you to engage in the process. Four listening sessions for faculty and staff are scheduled in the coming days: three in-person (tomorrow and Friday) and one virtual (Tuesday, September 15). All in-person listening sessions will be in Pugh Auditorium located in Benson.
A few things worth your attention as the semester gets underway. Over the summer, we:
- Launched the AI for Human Flourishing initiative led by Will Fleeson, Associate Provost for AI Initiatives. Three cross-school pilots launch this year: AI Compass, led by Ana Iltis; the AI Teaching Studio, led by Will Fleeson; and the AI Impact Clinic, led by Shannon McKeen, Paúl Pauca, and Errin Fulp. Together, this work will help guide how we integrate AI across teaching, research, and administrative work while remaining grounded in our mission. Watch for town halls, unit discussions, and other opportunities to participate – your perspective will help shape Wake Forest’s approach.
- Redesigned the Research and Sponsored Programs website, making it easier for faculty to find resources, guidance, and support across the research and sponsored programs lifecycle.
- Announced a new Single Application Semester Abroad process with Global Programs to help address the current semester imbalance when our students study abroad.
- Continued to closely track policy and regulatory developments affecting higher education so that we can anticipate their implications and support our academic community accordingly.
- Welcomed Matthew Phillips as Vice Provost for Policy and Special Projects.
- Hosted 42 new permanent, full-time faculty at New Faculty Orientation. It was an engaging day made possible by dozens of campus partners – thank you!
Below, I’ve also shared a few highlights from across our schools and academic units that will be of interest as the semester gets underway. The Office of the Provost is here to support your work. If there is something that could help enhance your teaching, scholarship, or ability to contribute fully to our academic community, please tell us.
Wishing each of you a wonderful semester,
Nell Jessup Newton
Interim Provost
Across Our Schools and Academic Units
I am immensely grateful to Norma Montague, who has stepped in as Interim Dean in the School of Business. Norma brings deep experience, sound strategic judgment, and a real commitment to academic excellence. A national search for a permanent dean will launch later this fall.
In the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Diana Polley begins her first semester as Director of Experiential Learning. A nationally recognized leader in experiential education, honors pedagogy, and place-based learning, Diana will work with faculty across disciplines to advance Deacs Do: Engaged Learning, Empowered Futures.
On Constitution Day, September 17, the School of Divinity will host “Reimagining Solidarity, Strengthening Democracy: New Visions of the Common Good,” the 2026 Initiative on Religion, Pluralism, and American Public Life (iRPA) Symposium. The event will explore a fundamental question: How can we hold a deeply divided and increasingly pluralistic nation together?
Also to mark Constitution Day, the School of Law and Reynolda House are partnering on From Protest to Precedent: Civil Rights and the Constitution, featuring Assistant Professor Nathan Fleming in conversation with Duke legal historian H. Timothy Lovelace. The program coincides with the opening of Flash Point: The Civil Rights Photography of Danny Lyon at Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
To provide the AI skills in demand in today’s workforce, the School of Professional Studies has integrated AI tools and concepts into the curriculum of its programs. Specifically, SPS has created AI Pathways in its Project Management, the renamed Digital Marketing and AI, Financial Technology and Analytics, Enterprise Risk Management, IT Management, and Cybersecurity programs, in addition to offering the Master of AI in Strategy and Innovation.
As the semester begins, I also encourage you to take advantage of the resources available through Z. Smith Reynolds Library, from grant data management, open-access publishing, and digital scholarship support to in-class workshops on database use, source evaluation, AI-related information literacy, and more. I’m grateful to our colleagues at ZSR for the many ways they support this work.