Dr. Andrew J. Leavitt became the 11th chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Nov. 1, 2014. He is a teacher-scholar and an administrator who is committed to student success. His forte is building relationships that advance the University and engage active alumni, donors and communities to make the case for the critical mission of UW Oshkosh.
Chancellor Leavitt is committed to leading an institution that provides students a well-rounded liberal education that is essential to succeed in a variety of endeavors in one’s lifetime. He is committed to an open and accountable administration that values input, accomplished through engaged leadership and shared governance. He looks forward to leading the conversations about maximizing student success, regional partnerships and resource development.
Dr. Leavitt rose through the academic ranks to become a professor of chemistry, awarded several teaching awards, and directed an externally funded research program. As vice president for university advancement at the University of North Georgia, he successfully led fundraising operations for two universities and completed a $44 million capital campaign. He led a strategic planning process and chaired a university committee developing ways to make higher education both accessible and affordable. Additionally, he merged two philanthropic foundations into a single foundation with more than $55 million in assets.
Dr. Leavitt’s research interests include the syntheses of novel solid-state compounds, studies of heterogeneous catalysis using ultrahigh vacuum surface science and scanning probe microscopy, and ultrahigh vacuum surface science studies and cluster beam studies of atmospheric reactions. He headed a lively externally-funded research program at the undergraduate level that produced nine peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 60 meeting presentations with undergraduate student authorships. Graduates from his research laboratory have gone on to graduate school at Harvard University, California Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology and many other fine institutions.
Innovation has been at the heart of Dr. Leavitt’s efforts in teaching and learning. He led or participated in collaborative efforts in developing pedagogy for online learning, interdisciplinary science teaching, studio teaching and Writing Across the Curriculum. Dr. Leavitt earned three university-wide teaching awards and the Excellence in Undergraduate Chemical Research Award from the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University.
Outside his work with students, Dr. Leavitt advances the community through board service in the arts and healthcare. Dr. Leavitt is an avid amateur musician, playing the saxophone in a variety of university jazz and classical ensembles.
Dr. Leavitt received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with minors in physics and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.