Credit: O.W. Official Website
(https://www.oldwestbury.edu/people/david-j-lanoue)
After several years of administrative uncertainty, SUNY Old Westbury has announced the appointment of David Lanoue Phd. Dr. Lanoue has worked as a college dean at Hawai’i Pacific University in Honolulu and Columbus State University in Georgia.
He officially joined SUNY Old Westbury on July 1, 2024, as the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. The interview for this article was conducted via email.
For eight years before his arrival at Old Westbury, he was Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southern Arkansas University. From these past positions, Dr Lanoue has learned “a lot about building and strengthening academic programs, developed a number of strategies to enhance student success, and learned how to build and work with strong teams.” He also emphasizes the importance of listening, that “Everyone on campus—students, faculty, and staff—has an important contribution to make.”
In high school, Dr. Lanoue worked for the City Library in Carlsbad, California. His first “real job,” however, was being a “board operator on the graveyard shift at KUDE/KJFM radio in Oceanside, California.” One of the biggest challenges in this period, starting from his childhood, was severe asthma, which “limited my activities and kept me out of school a lot.” With time it has receded, and Dr. Lanoue is now asthma free.
Dr. Lanoue’s post-high school education had quite a hectic path, starting first at San Diego State, but leaving after three semesters to pursue a career in radio. “When that didn’t work out, I completed a year at a local community college [Palomar College] and then ultimately graduated from the University of California at San Diego.” Dr. Lanoue then went to Stony Brook for his Doctorate in Political Science and MA, establishing his Long Island roots.
When asked for a list of his priorities, Dr. Lanoue was able to offer four highlights:
“1. Continue to strengthen the quality of all of our academic programs.
2. Build on the success that Old Westbury has had in increasing the number of students who make it all the way from freshman year to graduation.
3. Keep up with the latest trends in the job market to ensure that our students are well positioned to get great jobs upon graduation.
4. Maintain a campus climate where diversity is celebrated and all students, faculty, and staff feel they have a home.”
In the last few decades there has been a shift in academia from Liberal Arts towards STEM, with some humanities departments experiencing budget cuts and layoffs. Some academics are anxious about the future of Liberal Arts but not Dr. Lanoue.
“I worry sometimes that we draw too sharp a line between the liberal arts and STEM. A classical education traditionally included fields like philosophy and literature, but it also embraced STEM fields such as biology and mathematics. But to speak directly to your question, the Liberal Arts will always have a future in higher education and certainly at Old Westbury because the Liberal Arts are central to building skills that are needed both for career success and effective citizenship: critical thinking, problem solving, effective oral and written communication, quantitative literacy, and information management, just to name a few. Regardless of your major, the Liberal Arts provide the foundation upon which you will build as you prepare for life beyond college. And for a university that is committed to promoting social justice, the Liberal Arts are obviously essential.”
Dr. Lanoue’s tenure ends a period of uncertainty in the Old Westbury administration, establishing a qualified and eloquent professional as Provost.
