Robert M. Dixon, a nuclear physicist, professor, and veteran administrator has been named the Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Cheyney University in Thornbury, writes Patti Mengers for Daily Local News.

Acting Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Donna Parker, who replaced Phyllis Worth Dawkins after her recent departure, will continue to serve as Dean of Faculty.

Dixon’s appointment was announced by Cheyney’s Interim President, Frank G. Pogue, during the President’s Executive Council Meeting held on January 19th. Pogue and Dixon have already worked together at the Grambling State University in Louisiana, where Dixon served under Pogue as Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Deputy to the President.

Cheyney University, which is attempting to maintain state accreditation, was placed on probation last November by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education due to unsatisfactory evidence that the University is in compliance with a number of accreditation standards.

The University was given until September 1st this year to create a monitoring report which will document the completion of the required steps to keep its accreditation such as implementing technology and long-term financial plans and listing ways in which the institution has strengthened its finances.

“I hope to increase enrollment, increase the revenue stream and bring in new programs that will resonate with the interests and the needs of the larger society,” said Dixon. “I would love to see science and mathematics become very strong at this institution.”

Before this new post, Cheyney, who has a doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics from the University of Maryland, worked as a physics professor and in several other academic leadership roles. His vast experience includes serving as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Deputy to the President at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Dean of Academic Affairs at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Dean of the School of Science at Hampton University in Virginia.