Dr. Jeanine Varner, Provost
Dr. Jeanine Varner became provost of Abilene Christian Unversity in May 2009. Previously, she served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at
ACU from 2007-2009. Varner brings 36 years of experience in higher education to the
position. She served as vice president for academic affairs at Oklahoma
Christian University for 11 years.
As the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at ACU, Varner served on the Vision Leadership Team, the President’s
Operations Cabinet, the Provost's Cabinet and the Faculty Advisory
Committee for ACU Press. She also assisted in the development and
the writing of the 21st Century Vision document, assisted in
the implementation planning of the Core Curriculum and the
Co-Curriculum and worked on the Missional University Project.
Varner
earned her bachelor's degree in English from OCU in 1973. She earned her master's degree in English in 1975
and her Ph.D. in English in 1981, both from the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville, Tenn.
Before serving as vice president for
academic affairs at OCU, Varner also served
in the roles of chair of the Department of Language and Literature and
dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Oklahoma Christian.
In
addition to her academic experience at OCU,
Varner has been an adjunct faculty member at Texas Lutheran College in
Seguin, Texas, a lecturer at The University of Texas in Austin and an
assistant professor at Rochester College in Rochester, Mich.
The provost oversees all academic programs, working closely with the
deans of the colleges and the department chairs. At ACU, the provost's
area of responsibility includes both the curriculum and the
co-curriculum, i.e. students' learning experiences both inside and
outside of the classroom.
Varner is married to Paul, who teaches in the English department at ACU.
