It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Jon Hakkila as Associate Provost for International Services, Academic Integrity, and Dean of the Graduate School at UAH, effective September 29, 2021.
Dr. Hakkila comes to us from the College of Charleston where he served as the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, as a Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and as the campus director of the South Carolina NASA Space Grant Consortium. During his twenty years in leadership positions at the College of Charleston he remained active as an academic, as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, chair of the College’s Faculty Committee on Graduate Education, Continuing Education, and Special programs, and most recently as Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Prior to his arrival at the College of Charleston, Dr. Hakkila spent 14 years as an astronomy faculty member at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
In addition to campus graduate education leadership positions, Dr. Hakkila served as both chair and as co-chair of the South Carolina Graduate Dean’s Association and on the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Executive Committee.
Some may already be familiar with Dr. Hakkila, as he has been co-teaching an innovative NASA Space Mission Design class, which is an experiential learning course in which College of Charleston students design a planetary science mission in conjunction with undergraduate engineering majors at UAH which is then reviewed by a panel of NASA scientists and engineers. He has also served on the Ph.D. committees for two UAH doctoral candidates.
Dr. Hakkila brings a passion for research, teaching, and maintaining high academic standards in higher education. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Hakkila to our campus community.
Robert G. Lindquist
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs