University of Minnesota president nominates new provost

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler has selected Karen Hanson of Indiana University to be the university’s new senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

It’s the second-highest ranking job at the university after Kaler himself. If Hanson is approved by the Board of Regents on Friday, she would start on Feb. 1.

Hanson is currently the provost of Indiana University’s Bloomington campus, a job she has held since July 2007.

Like Kaler, she is returning the university where she received her early training. Hanson received her bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and mathematics from the university in 1970. She went on to earn both her master’s degree and doctorate in philosophy from Harvard in 1980.

Current Provost Tom Sullivan will remain on the job through January 2012.