YSU Provost aims 'to make a difference'

By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University's new provost intends to make a difference. So far, he's already accomplished his first goal.
Dr. Tony Atwater, the first black to be named provost at YSU, and his wife, Dr. Beverly Roberts Atwater, were officially welcomed during a reception on campus Friday evening.
As provost, Atwater's goal is to maintain and expand the quality of academics at YSU, said Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president.
Since he arrived last August, Sweet continued, Atwater has already hired three new deans to fill vacancies in the colleges of arts and sciences, education, and engineering.
By filling those vacancies, Atwater has accomplished his No. 1 objective, Sweet said.
Atwater said his desire to promote student success and faculty development prompted him to pursue a career in university administration.
Career path
Before that he had been a broadcast journalist and journalism professor.
He was also a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and is a former president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
As an administrator, Atwater served as associate vice president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo, and as dean at Northern Kentucky University.
He told members of the faculty, staff and greater Youngstown community that he is at YSU "to make a difference, a positive difference.
"A dream is a high goal with a plan," he said. All problems, Atwater continued, can be overcome. Solutions exist, they just haven't been discovered. "I'd like to work with Dr. Sweet to find some of those solutions."
Atwater's wife is a physician.
She specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and is affiliated with St. Elizabeth Health Center.
kubik@vindy.com