May 28, 2020
Dr. Sean F. Reid named provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at PC
Dr. Sean F. Reid, dean of the School of Business at Ithaca College, will become provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Providence College on July 1. He will succeed Dr. Hugh F. Lena III, who is stepping down after 16 years as the College’s chief academic officer.
Reid is a scholar in the field of finance with an extensive record of achievement and service in the military, private sector, and academics.
“We are so pleased to have someone of Sean’s experience and capabilities join the senior leadership team at Providence College,” said Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78 & ’82G, president-elect at PC, who made the announcement.
“He has been an integral member of a similar team at Ithaca College and, as dean of their school of business, has played a major role in the growth of a thriving and substantive academic program at that institution. Sean has been a key partner with Ithaca’s development and finance teams, in support not only of his own school, but of that college’s mission and purpose as a whole, and I anticipate that he will do the same here at Providence College. We welcome him and look forward to his arrival as provost.”
Reid is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a decorated veteran who served with distinction until his retirement as a Naval Reserve captain in 2017. His active duty deployments included service in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He earned seven awards for superior performance.
Reid earned an MBA from Incarnate Word College in 1994. He worked as an investment adviser and securities analyst for two years in the late 1990s while pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Rhode Island, where he earned a Ph.D. in finance in 2002.
He held finance faculty appointments at the University of New Haven, Salisbury University, and Quinnipiac University before being appointed associate dean of Quinnipiac’s School of Business in 2012. He has been in the dean’s role at Ithaca since 2015.
At Ithaca, Reid is a member of the college’s Senior Leadership Team. He is the dean representative on several high-level committees, including the Institutional Effectiveness and Budget Committee and the Enterprise Risk Management Committee.
Within the AACSB-accredited School of Business, he has managed the development of a comprehensive strategic plan with revised mission, vision, and value statements; overseen curriculum modifications and updates; and redesigned the first-year business experience, among several noteworthy initiatives. He also is known as a key partner working with colleagues in both private fundraising and student recruitment.
He serves as the lay trustee for the Ithaca College Catholic Community. He is active in his local parish as faith formation facilitator within the RCIA program and in Ithaca’s on-campus Catholic community.
Reid was selected after a five-month search by the College’s Provost Search Committee, chaired by Father Sicard. The provost and senior vice president for academic affairs is PC’s chief academic officer and a member of the President’s Senior Cabinet, responsible for the planning, strategic development, and oversight of academic programs. The College’s five deans report to the provost, as do the associate provost for faculty affairs and the associate vice presidents for admission and financial aid, institutional effectiveness, and academic facilities and technology planning.
Lena’s 16 years as the College’s chief academic officer — first as vice president for academic affairs, then provost and senior vice president — is the second-longest tenure in PC’s history, behind only Rev. Paul van K. Thomson, who served for 17. A professor of sociology, Lena has been a member of the PC faculty for 46 years.
Father Sicard, who has been executive vice president and treasurer at PC since 2005, will become the College’s 13th president on July 1. He will succeed Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80.
