Global Education Leader Constancio Nakuma Named CU Denver Provost

Sent: April 16, 2021

Dear Lynx community,

It is with great pleasure that I announce we have selected CU Denver’s new Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs. Constancio Nakuma, PhD, a dedicated educator with nearly 30 years of higher education experience, will join us after a successful 19-year tenure at Clemson University, where he currently serves as Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.

In addition to his administrative role at Clemson, Constancio is a professor of French/Linguistics in the Department of Languages and has served as a senior associate dean of academic affairs and department chair. Prior to Clemson, he was an associate professor and program director at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also served as a lecturer at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he obtained an MBA degree.

Throughout his career, Constancio has demonstrated success in academic leadership, strategic planning at the departmental, collegiate, and provost levels, as well as financial management and budgeting. He has experience with academic program assessment, development and assessment of student learning outcomes, development and implementation of academic curricula, and faculty recruitment and development. Among other achievements, Constancio has created multidisciplinary degree programs between humanities and STEM, health, and business fields that have been successful in attracting and engaging students along their educational journeys.

A multilingual teacher/scholar, he has been educated in Africa, Europe, and North America. Constancio received his bachelor’s from the University of Ghana-Legon, Accra, Ghana; his master’s from Université Paris X-Nanterre, France; and his PhD from Sorbonne Nouvelle.

In his new role at CU Denver, which begins July 1, Constancio will be a key member of our leadership team and the academic arm of the university. He will lead academic innovation and the advancement of a transformative academic, research, and student success agenda that stems from our new strategic plan. As someone who has a great respect for the role of all faculty and shared governance, Constancio is looking forward to hearing the thoughts of CU Denver faculty and staff on how we can take new ideas and implement them into the CU Denver campus community.

I was impressed with Constancio’s core belief that leaders of academic institutions must rethink and re-establish the university with a clear focus on lifelong learning. As the world adapts to the changes brought on by the pandemic, it's vital to have a team that understands the importance of evolving to keep up with the changes and even create a new mold to better serve our students. With a fresh set of eyes and new ideas, Constancio is the perfect candidate to help us implement those changes, and he has proven experience navigating COVID-19 and challenging societal issues.

The search committee and I were especially drawn to Constancio’s deep commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. He has worked on and led several committees, task forces, and strategic planning teams to strengthen his previous institution’s inclusion policies. This commitment and experience align with the work of our Equity Task Force; Antonio Farias, our new Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and the broader Lynx leadership team and community.

As we successfully complete this search, I’d like to thank the search committee and co-chairs Scott Dawson, PhD, Dean of the Business School, and Stephanie Santorico, PhD, Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Research and Creative Activities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In addition, I extend my deepest appreciation for Roderick Nairn, PhD, who has admirably served as the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs at CU Denver for all academic, faculty, and student affairs units for both the Denver Campus and the Anschutz Medical Campus for 14 years. Rod will continue his role at CU Anschutz following Constancio’s arrival.

As we continue to grow and diversify our leadership team, I will remain transparent in all our ongoing searches and look forward to your participation. And please be sure to welcome Constancio when he joins us in July.

Michelle Marks
Chancellor
@MarksMichelleA