New Interim Provost Selected After Provost Kodat Announced Her Retirement

Former Provost and Dean of Faculty, Dr. Catherine Gunther Kodat. Credits to Marist University

This summer marked changes in the provost position at Marist University. On June 30, Provost Catherine Gunther Kodat announced her retirement as provost and dean of faculty after serving in the position for more than three years.

On July 1, 2026, Interim Provost Addrain Conyers stepped in to temporarily fill the position.

“Huge props and immense gratitude to the tremendous Provost office team and the superb School Deans,” Kodat wrote in a LinkedIn post announcing her retirement. “It's been an absolute joy and honor to work with you all… Thank you, thank you -- a thousand times over.”

Kevin C. Weinman announced in an email to faculty that Conyers, associate provost for faculty development and associate professor of crime and justice studies, will serve as interim provost and dean of faculty until the position is filled. Weinman shared in the same email that a national search for a permanent provost and dean of faculty has begun, with a plan to fill the position by no later than July 1, 2027.

“I am grateful to Addrain for agreeing to serve in this critical leadership role at a consequential time for the university,” Weinman said in a faculty email. “He will bring a dynamic skill set and valuable faculty perspective to the interim role and the senior leadership team while continuing the excellent work of the Provost’s Office.”

During Kodat's time as provost and dean of faculty, she created the Center for Teaching and Learning to enhance faculty development; collaborated with the prestigious Pushcart Prize Foundation to secure a three-year sponsorship at Marist; initiated an external review of career services and, most recently, aided in the approval of the new Science and Health Initiative.

“Bringing a wealth of experience from a remarkable career at several premier liberal arts institutions, Katie has been a focused, insightful advocate for academic excellence, faculty support and student success,” said Weinman.

Before her time at Marist, Kodat was the provost and dean of faculty for five years at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin; dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Lewis and Clark College for two years; and, throughout her entire career, a professor of English and American studies.