Acting Provost and Executive Vice President for the Division of Academic Affairs

Jennifer A. Drake was appointed Acting Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Grand Valley State University in August 2024. She joined the University in 2020 and served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences until her current appointment. She received her B.A. from Brown University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton.  She earned the rank of Professor in the English Department at the University of Indianapolis and has served in a wide range of posts including at the University of Indianapolis as the Founding Director of the Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship Program and Dean of the Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences, and as Provost and Vice-President for Student & Academic Life at The Evergreen State College.  

She is the author of numerous book chapters and articles and was co-editor (with Leslie Heywood) of Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997).

In her work, Jen has prioritized enhancing student engagement and success; creating and sustaining strong academic programs; supporting faculty and staff professional development; promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion; collaborating with community partners; and ensuring accountability to stakeholders.

A proponent of lifelong learning, Jen was a Fellow of the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, Arizona State University and Georgetown University, 2019-2020. She also attended the Seminar on Leadership of the Faculty: A COACHE Program at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education, 2019.  In her free moments, she exercises her love of poetry and enjoys exploring city neighborhoods and the great outdoors with her family.