CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Jesse G. Delia, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will be named acting provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, pending approval of the board of trustees at its July 15 meeting in Chicago.
Delia, who also is a professor of speech communication and a research professor in the Institute of Communications Research, was recommended for the position by Richard Herman, the interim chancellor. Delia would begin his duties Aug. 16.
“Jesse is our senior dean, and his leadership of our largest and most diverse college over the last 10 years has demonstrated extraordinary administrative skill, leadership and commitment to the academic values of our institution,” Herman said. “By virtue of his long service as dean and his other administrative service over the last 33 years, he combines experienced leadership with a deep knowledge of our campus and university that few can match.”
Delia earned his bachelor of arts degree at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, in 1966; his master of arts at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1969, and his doctorate at Kansas in 1970.
Delia has been dean of LAS since 1994. He began his career at Illinois as a professor of speech in 1970. Three years later, he became a professor of speech communication and a research professor in the Institute of Communications Research. From 1978 to 1994, he was the head of the department of speech communication.
He was an assistant instructor of communications and human relations at Kansas from 1966 to 1970.
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