Briarcliffe College Appoints Resident As Provost

Briarcliffe College today announced the appointment of Kenneth Arledge Thigpen, Ph.D., as its provost, effective immediately. As provost, Thigpen is the college's chief academic officer, responsible for overseeing all day-to-day academic operations at Briarcliffe's two campuses - in Bethpage and Patchogue - as well as its Queens site.

"The provost's role is absolutely vital in helping an academic institution succeed, and Ken comes to us with a remarkable combination of talent and professional experience," says Dr. George Santiago, Jr., Briarcliffe's president. "I'm fully confident that his passion and commitment to academic excellence will greatly benefit our current and future students."

In his new role, Thigpen - a Garden City resident - provides overall leadership related to curriculum development, academic and student affairs, academic support services and advisement, development studies and remediation, and registrar and library functions. His responsibilities also extend to faculty/staff recruitment, retention and evaluation.

Before coming to Briarcliffe, Thigpen held a range of executive positions in the administration of higher education. These included serving as vice president of

Academic Affairs for Canada-based Pattison Education Group, dean of Global and Extended Education at New York University of Technology, associate dean of Undergraduate Studies for Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and various posts at Pennsylvania State University, where he retains emeritus professorial status. Thigpen also held a range of faculty positions at Nova Southeastern University, Pennsylvania State University, and Indiana University.

Thigpen earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University, and both his M.A. and B.A. from Florida State University.