The University of Central Florida (UCF) is determined to gain designation as one of the state’s preeminent institutions of higher education, and a historic administrative appointment has been made to help the large, Orlando-based institution make it happen.
Dr. Elizabeth A. Dooley, who had served as interim provost since April, has been appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs and is the first woman and the first African-American to hold the position in the school’s 55-year history.
Dooley will play a key leadership role in UCF’s goal to attain 11 of 12 key state metrics within three years, with six already met. Student success is at the heart of the designation, and Dooley has the education, experience and passion to help the most challenged students achieve.
Before arriving at UCF in 2015, Dooley spent upwards of 25 years at West Virginia University (WVU). She was associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs, the founding dean of the University College and interim dean of the College of Education and Human Services. She also was the department chair of Curriculum Instruction/Literacy Studies and Special Education, and directed numerous university programs.
Dooley credits her vocational success to her parents, who instilled important values in her and her five siblings as they grew up in the small town of Fairmont, West Virginia. Their father was a coal miner who worked his way up to federal safety inspector, despite having dropped out of school after the seventh grade to work and take care of his mother and his two little sisters when his father died.
“He had an amazing, strong work ethic,” recalled Dooley. “So even with a limited education, he was always interested in lifelong learning.”
Her mother had finished high school and earned a nursing certificate, but chose to stay at home to focus on raising the children.
