3rd finalist for U of A provost to hold forum Thursday

William T. Bernhard, who has been at UIUC for 28 years in numerous academic and leadership positions, is currently executive vice provost for academic affairs and interim associate chancellor and vice provost for budget and resource planning.

Bernhard is set to visit UA for in-person interviews Thursday, March 27, and will have an open forum session at 9 a.m. at UA’s Meinel Optical Sciences building, in which faculty and staff will be able to ask him questions.

The first two candidates in the provost search, Eric Barker and Jenna Rickus, both come from Purdue University and were on campus last week for their forums and in-person meetings. Rickus is senior vice provost for teaching and learning and Barker is vice president for health affairs and dean of the pharmacy college.

Suresh Garimella, who was officially installed as UA’s president Tuesday, was a Purdue administrator before becoming president of the University of Vermont and then UA president. The UA search for a senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, a position now held by Ron Marx in the interim, began after Garimella took the reins Oct. 1.

Bernhard’s roles at the University of Illinois over the years included assistant, associate and professor roles; director of graduate students and head of the political science department; interim executive associate dean in the College of Media; associate provost for faculty development; vice provost for academic affairs; and interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost.

His current responsibilities include providing leadership in the areas of academic and faculty affairs, faculty development, the Provost Fellows program, human resources, academic awards, and assessment, according to the UIUC website.

He’s also tasked with providing strategic budget planning and allocation advice to the chancellor and provost, guidance to the university in areas related to budget, finance, planning and resource allocation, and leadership and management of the campus budget office.

Bernhard, who has a master’s degree and a PhD in political science and a bachelor’s degree in government, did his undergraduate education at Cornell in New York and his graduate and postgraduate education at Duke.

His book Legislative Style, published in 2018, investigates how members of Congress allocate their time and effort across different activities. His research also examines the strategic choices of politicians, including how parties manage candidate nominations, and how the potential for immigration across borders shapes foreign policy choices, according to UIUC’s website.

The book was awarded the 2015 Patrick J. Fett Award and the 2014 Jewell-Lowenberg Award.

Bernhard was described as a “political scientist with a funny bone” in a September 2022 article by the News-Gazette, a newspaper in central Illinois. The article also says he’s “frugal,” still living in his first-purchased house, driving a car with 110,000 miles on it, and wearing sport coats he bought in college.

In the article, Bernhard said the hardest thing about being a leader is “being present.” “There are many demands and it is easy to be distracted. Giving full attention to the topic at hand can be difficult, especially,” he joked, “if I’ve had too much caffeine.”

Among recognitions awarded to Bernhard over the years are Graduate Mentor of the Year in the political science department, Alumni Discretionary Award in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Campus Research Award, and being listed among researchers rated as excellent by their students.