Following a national search focused on the academic future of West Virginia University, President Michael T. Benson has announced the hiring of Beverly Wendland, an accomplished scholar and academic leader with wide-ranging higher education experience, to serve as the university’s provost and vice president for academic affairs.
“Beverly is a nationally recognized cell biologist who has served as a faculty member, department chair, dean, and provost during her extensive career, which has also included direct work with large academic medical centers,” Benson said.
“She will bring a scientific mindset to the role of provost and vice president for academic affairs that will complement my work as an historian. This balance will ensure all academic disciplines — from STEM to the arts — are prioritized at the highest levels of leadership as we drive the academic mission of West Virginia University into a new and impactful era.”
Wendland most recently served as senior advisor to the chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, following a successful five-year term in the role of provost and executive vice chancellor.
“Serving as provost at West Virginia University is a very meaningful opportunity to help advance a land-grant research institution at a pivotal moment in its historical arc,” Wendland said. “I look forward to partnering with faculty, staff, and students to build on the strengths of WVU, support academic excellence across disciplines, and extend the University’s impact for West Virginia and the communities it serves.”
The university’s provost administers all academic affairs, providing oversight for deans, academic programs, student support services, curriculum development, faculty engagement and recruitment, academic budgets, institutional data and accreditation.
Under Wendland’s leadership, Washington University in St. Louis — a private research university — made significant strides in academic excellence, research innovation and community engagement while implementing a 10-year strategic plan which included the creation of the School of Public Health.
“Throughout my career, I have enhanced student learning while leveraging academic excellence for the public good,” Wendland said. “Strategic thinking allows higher education to evolve in ways that benefit all — from global discovery to locally grounded community impact.”
Prior to being hired at Washington University in St. Louis in 2020, Wendland served for five years as the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
She had previously been a member of the Johns Hopkins faculty since 1998 and was the chair of the Department of Biology from 2009 to 2014.
“Beverly’s comprehensive involvement with Association of American Universities institutions will be especially helpful as we work toward our goal of AAU membership,” Benson said.
Wendland is a first-generation college graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, and a doctoral degree in neurosciences from Stanford University.
Her research focus on the molecular mechanisms of endocytosis using yeast as a model system contributes to the understanding of heart disease, cancer and other health issues.
“I have long been fascinated by how cells organize and adapt at the molecular level to accomplish their unique functions. Studying endocytosis in yeast allows us to uncover fundamental biological principles that have implications for human health and disease,” she said.
Wendland also served on the Board of Directors for the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis — the affiliated teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine — which U.S. News & World Report ranked the top hospital in Missouri.
The Provost Search Committee — co-chaired by Diana Davis, Faculty Senate past chair and associate professor at the WVU School of Medicine, and Evan Widders, associate provost for undergraduate education — was supported by Greenwood Asher & Associates, a full-service search firm, to fill the position.
In addition to leading the university as provost and vice president for academic affairs, Wendland will have a faculty appointment in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology.
She will be engaging with the campus community regularly in the first half of 2026 as she prepares to officially join Benson’s leadership team on July 1.
