Meet the Provost
Susan L. Ganter is Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Mathematics at The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB). Her research focuses on evaluating innovations in postsecondary science and mathematics curricula, including articulation issues from K-12 to college education. Student access and success at the postsecondary level are natural components of her work, including implementing and evaluating programs designed to improve success rates for underrepresented students. An example is Dr. Ganter’s work as Director (since 1999) for the Curriculum Foundations (CF) Project housed at the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The CF work has resulted in research about classroom practices in undergraduate mathematics, with a focus on interdisciplinary collaborations that result in the development of courses in both mathematics and the partner disciplines that support the preparation of students for careers in STEM and non-STEM disciplines. Currently, she is Lead PI for a $2.9M National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, focused on a national consortium of fifteen institutions for the purpose of wider dissemination and implementation of the recommendations from the CF work across numerous disciplines.
Prior to arriving at UTPB, Dr. Ganter served as Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Director of the School of Education and Professor of Mathematics at Virginia Tech (VT). She worked with an interdisciplinary team to secure a $2.55M partnership between VT and Qualcomm, Inc. to create a Thinkabit lab in Northern Virginia. As Director of the VT Thinkabit project, Dr. Ganter led the development of curricular and programmatic activities to facilitate engagement of at-risk students in STEM-related activities via the Qualcomm Thinkabit experience, a combination of a lab, makerspace, and classroom for students and educators.
Before joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Ganter served as Professor and Chair for the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Instructional Technology Education and Professor of Mathematics at East Carolina University (ECU), where she led a faculty collaborative across the sciences that resulted in an unprecedented cluster hire, including numerous joint appointments across biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and geography. Prior to ECU, she was a Mathematical Sciences faculty member at Clemson University; Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and California State University, San Bernardino. She also has served as National Director of the NSF-funded Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) and Executive Director of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), and was a founding member and Director of the National Numeracy Network, a non-profit (403C) organization whose purpose is to develop and disseminate materials and professional development opportunities that focus on quantitative literacy for all citizens.
As an Assistant Professor, Dr. Ganter was awarded a prestigious Senior Research Fellowship from NSF and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), which resulted in a two-year research residency at NSF. Her scholarly work has been funded continuously since 1994 through external research grants and contracts totaling over $12M. Dr. Ganter has published extensively, served as a journal editor, and led the development of numerous major works, including twelve books. Her education includes Ph.D. and Master’s degrees from University of California, Santa Barbara and two Bachelor’s degrees (Mathematical Sciences and Music) from Southern Methodist University.
