Benedictine selects James Payne as new Provost

Benedictine University has chosen James E. Payne, Ph.D., as its next chief academic officer.

Payne, dean of the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA, will succeed outgoing Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maria J. de la Cámara, Ph.D., who last year announced her retirement.

With more than 28 years of experience in higher education at a variety of institutions, Payne brings a wealth of experience in academic program development and assessment, strategic planning and budgeting, and accreditation.

In his most recent role as dean at Georgia College, Payne helped lead reaccreditation efforts for the college of business by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and initial accreditation of the college's computer science program by ABET, a nonprofit that accredits applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology programs. He also helped expand the college's fundraising efforts.

In addition to his extensive administrative experience, Payne has continued to be an active scholar, serving on several editorial boards and as a journal editor. He was a 2000 Fulbright research scholar and 2007 Fulbright senior specialist to the Institute of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Berea College and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Economics from Florida State University.

Payne will assume the new role at Benedictine in May and University leaders believe his experience and vision will make for a seamless transition.

"Dean Payne has the leadership experience and visionary aptitude to help not only maintain our University's high academic standards, but also to provide guidance for setting a balanced academic infrastructure that will make Benedictine University a first-choice university," said Benedictine University President Michael S. Brophy, Ph.D., M.F.A.