Jeff Gingerich, an alumnus of Eastern Mennonite University, has been announced as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at University of Scranton. His appointment is effective July 1, 2018.
Gingerich currently serves as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cabrini University, a Catholic liberal arts institution in Radnor, Pennsylvania. In his current role, he serves as the chief academic officer overseeing four colleges and schools offering more than 35 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs.
He joined the Cabrini faculty in 2005 as an associate professor of sociology and was named department chair in 2007. In 2009, he served as dean for academic affairs and vice provost and dean for academic affairs before taking his current position in 2014.
Gingerich is a 1990 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, where he studied social work. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career at Bluffton University as a professor of sociology from 2000 to 2004.
At Cabrini, Gingerich has held responsibility for many cross-divisional institutional priorities at Cabrini, including revision of the core curriculum, diversity initiatives and mission integration. In 2016, he led Cabrini’s transition to university status and the academic reorganization to create four new schools. During his tenure, Cabrini launched its first doctoral programs, new graduate programs and online modalities for student access.
“Dr. Gingerich is an experienced and distinguished administrator, professor and scholar,” said Interim President The Rev. Herbert B. Keller, S.J.. “[University President-elect] Rev. Scott R. Pilarz and I are delighted that the University has identified a person whose innovative approach to higher education is matched only by his commitment to student success and social justice. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated well the very qualities we hope to instill in our students through Scranton’s distinctive Catholic and Jesuit education.”
Prior to entering higher education, Gingerich spent six years as a voluntary service worker in New Orleans, Louisiana, coordinating conflict resolution programming at the Twomey Center for Peace through Justice at Loyola University. These experiences inspired his research and teaching interests in race and ethnic relations, cultural analysis, prisoner reentry, and incarceration reform. During that time, he also taught courses in cultural awareness and conflict resolution for officers and trainees of the New Orleans Police Department.
While pursuing his master’s and doctoral degrees, he was a facilitator in the Restorative Justice Program at Graterford State Prison, Philadelphia.
His scholarship is currently focused on the sociology of higher education with research exploring the changing role of the chief academic officer. He is also co-executive editor of the new journal, Praxis: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Faith and Justice, a scholarly journal founded to advance the intersection of theory and practice in the pursuit of social justice through Catholic social tradition and other religious traditions of social justice (first issue to be released spring 2018).
Active in every community in which he has lived, Gingerich volunteers at the Norristown Hospitality Center and has held board positions with the Centre Theater of Norristown. Gingerich, and his wife, Betsy, are the parents of five children.
Article and photo courtesy of University of Scranton.