Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to share good news today: Kami Rowan, Charles A. Dana Professor of Music, has agreed to be interim Provost for Guilford College, and Kathryn Shields, Associate Academic Dean and Professor for Art, will serve as interim Associate Provost. They bring a wealth of leadership experience to the roles.

Working alongside outgoing Provost Maria Rosales, Kami and Kathryn will begin transitioning into their new positions this week. They will officially begin these jobs January 6, and they are on 1-year assignments as we plan for and carry out open and competitive search processes for a new Provost and Associate Provost that will take place in 2025. 

Kami has been teaching at Guilford since 1994, part-time at first and full-time since 2005. She served as Chair of the Music Department from 2014-20. She’s also chaired numerous committees through the years, including the Mellon Grant Advisory Committee, the Technology Advisory Committee, the Mellon Digital Humanities Committee and the Curriculum Committee. One hallmark of Kami’s academic leadership is that she has built several exciting and impactful programs from ground up including Guilford’s classical guitar program, the Classical Guitar Summit for the Eastern Music Festival and the U.S. Guitar Orchestra. She helped establish Weaver Academy for Performing & Visual Arts and Advanced Technology and has served on six nonprofit boards, chairing two of those.

Since 2017, Kathryn has been deeply involved in the administration of Academic and Student Affairs. Currently, she contributes to academic and student support operations, including supervision of the Director of Academic Support Services, Director of Learning Commons, Director of the Accessibility Resource Center and Director of Counseling Services. She coordinates academic advising and administers academic policies and is an advisor for the Presidential Fellows program and project manager for several federal grants. She has been a faculty member at Guilford since 2007, teaching the history of art and visual culture focusing on photography, art of the 20th and 21st centuries and art of the Ancient Americas.

What their resumes cannot show is the infectious passion for Guilford Kami and Kathryn bring to campus every day. I’m excited to be working with them in their new roles.

I want to again thank Maria Rosales for her leadership as Provost these past three years, and for her continued work through the end of the calendar year. Guilford and its community have benefited greatly from Maria’s service and dedication. I know students will be excited to have her back in the classroom beginning next semester.

Please join me in welcoming Kami and Kathryn to their positions and in supporting their critical work, along with their Provost Office colleagues, that is at the core of Guilford’s mission.

Warmly,

Kyle Farmbry, J.D., Ph.D.
President