Woods Hole, Mass. (Nov. 7, 2024) – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is pleased to announce that Dr. Diane Foster will join the institution as its new Vice President for Academic Programs and Dean beginning January 27, 2025. She succeeds Rob Evans, who has served in an interim capacity, since June 2023.
Foster comes to WHOI after an extensive national search and brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to academic excellence and innovation. Since 2019, she has led the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering. Prior to that, she was the Director of the Center for Ocean Engineering at UNH. She has also served at the national level, including executive roles within the US Coastal Research Program and the Network for Engineering with Nature. In these roles, Foster’s dedication to advancing ocean science and education has been highlighted by her scholarly contributions, professional service, and academic leadership.
“I am thrilled to be joining the WHOI community, and eager to contribute to its longstanding educational excellence that empowers future leaders in ocean sciences and engineering,” said Foster. “Building on WHOI’s existing strengths, I look forward to helping foster an environment of collaboration and growth within the academic community.”
According to Peter de Menocal, WHOI’s President and Director, “Diane’s extensive experience in administering and launching academic programs, coupled with her passion to advance the scientific understanding of the world’s oceans in a rapidly changing climate, make her a tremendous asset to WHOI. I am excited to welcome Diane and her family to the WHOI community, and I know her leadership will have an enormous impact. I also want to recognize and thank Rob Evans for his leadership and commitment as the interim Dean while we conducted this search.”
WHOI is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and awards graduate degrees jointly with MIT through the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Engineering, which was created in 1968 and has awarded more than 1,000 degrees. In addition, WHOI’s Academic Programs Office (APO) oversees the Institution’s highly competitive postdoctoral scholars, fellows, and investigators programs, as well as the undergraduate Summer Student Fellowships and the Blue Economy Program, a partnership between WHOI, Cape Cod Community College, and University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Each of these is central to the Institution’s mission of advancing “understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.”
Foster received her BS Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; an MS Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Maine; and her PhD, Civil Engineering, at the Oregon State University.
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About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans’ role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.
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