Texas A&M president Katherine Banks announced Friday her selection for the university’s first vice president of faculty affairs.
Professor N.K. Anand was one of five who applied and one of three who were interviewed by a five member selection committee.
Dr. Anand, who has been at A&M since 1985, is a professor in the college of engineering and an associate director at the A&M system’s engineering experiment station (TEES).
Dr. Banks created the VP faculty affairs position as one of more than 20 administrative decisions that followed an outside consultant’s study.
When Banks announced her administrative decisions in December 2021, she stated “One of my primary concerns as I moved into university leadership is the inefficiency and excessive requirements of our faculty processes in general. Our faculty are performing groundbreaking research, teaching large classes, and connecting to the world through remarkable service, but are also expected to complete increasing amounts of administrative tasks. Too often, they are not recognized for their exceptional efforts and accomplishments. To address these issues and elevate faculty interests, I support the recommendation to create a Vice President for Faculty Affairs.”
Dr. Banks also wrote in December “Because of the importance of this role, this position will report directly to me and will effectively replace and elevate the current Dean of Faculty. The vice president of faculty affairs should be a senior level tenured faculty member with extensive experience and knowledge of current faculty systems and processes at Texas A&M.”
Statement from Texas A&M president Katherine Banks:
In my response to the MGT report recommendations, I announced the creation of a Vice President for Faculty Affairs position with a selection committee of Interim Provost Tim Scott, Vice Presidents Greg Hartman and Jack Baldauf, Faculty Senate Speaker Dale Rice and me. Over the last few weeks, five applications were submitted from candidates interested in this new role. Three candidates were interviewed by the selection committee. I am pleased to announce that the committee unanimously selected Professor N.K. Anand as the inaugural Vice President for Faculty Affairs, effective Feb 1.
Dr. Anand has served Texas A&M since 1985, when he joined as an assistant professor in mechanical engineering. Over the past 36 years, Dr. Anand has consistently risen up through the leadership ranks. He is a Regents Professor and holder of the James J. Cain ’51 Professor III Endowed Chair and has served as graduate program director, associate and interim department head, as well as assistant and associate dean for graduate programs, associate dean for research, acting vice chancellor, and interim dean and acting director for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. Dr. Anand’s experience with faculty affairs, including faculty hiring and retention, tenure and promotion, appointment of endowed faculty positions, budget, built environment, strategic planning and fundraising, gives him tremendous insight into all areas impacting our faculty members.
From Dr. Anand’s application letter: “I will pursue and promote excellence in creation, dissemination, and instruction of new knowledge, through faculty advocacy, recruiting, retention, development, shared governance, and by being effective and efficient. I will pursue my vision with emphasis on integrity, quality, transparency, fairness, accountability, and a strong commitment to the citizenry of the state of Texas and to the principles of the land grant mission.”
Dr. Anand is well known throughout the university and held in high esteem as a fair, diplomatic and trustworthy leader. He is the ideal candidate to serve in this important position. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Anand upon his selection to serve in this new role.
