CarterBaldwin Executive Search, together with Azusa Pacific University, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Anita Fitzgerald Henck, as the University’s fifth Provost and Chief Academic Officer. In this role, Henck will lead and advocate for APU’s academic mission, overseeing all schools, colleges, and libraries. Reporting to the President and serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet, Henck will provide strategic leadership and oversight of academics and broad university initiatives.
Henck assumes this role after serving as dean of APU’s School of Education since 2011, where she provided turnaround leadership during major transition, improved enrollment, enhanced fiscal health, led a team that reshaped the curricular portfolio, redesigned the EdD in Educational Leadership program with a 96 percent completion rate, and launched the Next Generation Superintendent’s professional development group. Henck came to APU in 2006 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Doctoral Higher Education. She later served as the interim Program Director for the MS in College Counseling and Student Development, and the Program Director for the MA in Leadership and the Chair of the Department of Leadership and College Student Development. Previously, Henck served as Vice President for Student Development and Retention at Eastern Nazarene College.
Throughout her time in higher education, Henck has served as Dean, Department Chair, Program Director, faculty member, Vice President, board/press liaison, policy and speech writer, ombudsperson, and assistant to the President and Provost.
“God’s timing is perfect and I’m praising Him for the appointment of Dr. Anita Henck as our new provost,” said President Dr. Adam J. Morris. “Dr. Henck has a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ and an unmistakable call on her life to serve in Christian higher education. Her genuine love for our students and our community, heart for faculty, collaborative spirit, ability to innovate, aptitude for organizational change, and skill in shaping institutional culture, coupled with her outstanding research, writing, and teaching, and strong commitment to the mission of APU are among the many reasons why I invited Dr. Henck into this important role. The coming years will be critical as we work together to position APU for a healthy and thriving future and I am incredibly grateful and excited to have Dr. Henck join the senior leadership team.”
Henck earned a BA in psychology from Indiana University, an MA in educational administration, and a PhD in education from American University.
Click here to read the complete announcement from APU.
