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News Release

Last modified: Monday, March 22, 2010

William Lowe named new IU Northwest chancellor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2010

Gary, Ind. -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today (March 23) announced the selection of William Lowe as the new chancellor of the IU Northwest campus, subject to the approval of the IU Board of Trustees. Lowe has been serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn.

Lowe has been at Metropolitan State University since 2003 and is also a professor of history. In addition to serving in his current position, he served as interim president of the university from 2007-08. From 1997-2003, he was vice president for academic affairs at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y.

"Bill has extensive experience at both the administrative and faculty level, and most recently he has contributed greatly to the growth of one of Minnesota's most comprehensive and dynamic urban universities," McRobbie said. "His academic and administrative experiences, proven leadership abilities and commitment to community engagement make him an ideal fit for IU Northwest as it seeks to fulfill its educational mission to the citizens of Northwest Indiana and contribute to economic and cultural development in the region.

"We look forward to him continuing the great progress that IU Northwest has made over the last decade under the steady and visionary leadership of retiring Chancellor Bruce Bergland."

Lowe said he was grateful for the opportunity to join the IU Northwest campus and larger IU system.

"My wife, Pamela, and I very much look forward to becoming part of the Gary and Northwest Indiana community. It is an exciting destination," he said. "IU Northwest is an impressive regional resource, and I enjoyed meeting the students and my new colleagues during my visit. I look forward to working with the campus and Gary communities to continue to build a very successful future."

As provost of Metropolitan State University, Lowe served as the university's chief academic and operating officer with responsibility for five colleges, programs on three principal campuses, the Center for Online Learning and other administrative areas, including the Minnesota Center of Excellence for Strategic Information Technology and Security (now Advance IT Minnesota).

Lowe was recommended by a 12-member search committee led by Edwin Marshall, IU vice president for diversity, equity and multicultural affairs. He will replace current IU Northwest Chancellor Bruce Bergland, who is retiring after having served as the chief executive officer of the Gary, Ind., campus since July 1999.

"The search committee was impressed with Bill's wealth of administrative experience and success as a leader in higher education and is very pleased that his appointment will allow him to contribute his talents to the continuing development of IU Northwest as its next chancellor," Marshall said.

The new IU Northwest Chancellor will be expected to work closely with a newly formed IU office that will develop and implement a distinct collective mission for IU's regional campuses. The office is headed by John Applegate, vice president for university regional affairs, planning and policy.

"IU Northwest will play a major role in defining the future direction of IU's regional campuses, and I look forward to working with Bill on the key issues in Gary and Northwest Indiana," Applegate said.

Lowe has taken an active role at the university level and in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System efforts to expand access to bachelor's degrees and graduate programs in the growing and increasingly diverse Twin Cities metropolitan area. During 2007, he served as a member of the Core Learning Outcomes Task Force of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities national Voluntary System of Accountability project. Regionally, he has been active with the Higher Learning Commission, as a consultant evaluator and member of the Accreditation Review Council.

He has served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit and dean of Graduate Studies at Chicago State University in Chicago. He has also held administrative appointments at State University of New York at Cortland in Cortland, N.Y., and Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio.

Lowe is active in research and writing in the field of modern Irish history and has been a Fulbright Scholar. He is an authority on the Royal Irish Constabulary, Ireland's national police force from 1814-1921, and has written articles on the subject for Irish Historical Studies, Irish Economic and Social History, Éire-Ireland and History Ireland. His book The Irish in Mid-Victorian Lancashire: The Shaping of a Working Class Community appeared in 1989. Other articles and reviews have appeared in international journals, and he presents regularly at scholarly meetings.

Lowe has a bachelor's degree in history from Michigan State University and a doctorate in modern history from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

IU Northwest is dedicated to providing higher education to the people of the seven counties in northwest Indiana. Quality and relevance are the hallmarks of IU Northwest's programs. These programs serve the needs of the most diverse, urban and industrialized area of the state. Out of this diversity, IU Northwest strives to create a community dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and the value of education.

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