The Kansas Board of Regents voted Thursday to name Jay Golden of East Carolina University as the 14th president of Wichita State University.
Golden was introduced at a Regents meeting at the Rhatigan Student Center. He said he wants to make sure that Wichita State students are prepared not just for the jobs of today but the professions of tomorrow. He said that can be done in part by promoting critical thinking, and the university needs to have programs for students in the humanities, the arts and the social sciences. He said students must develop the intellectual curiosity in critical thinking skills required for the “new knowledge economy.” Golden promised to continue the legacy of the late Dr. John Bardo, the previous WSU president, in continuing a focus on applied learning.
Golden said he sees a need to diversify the economy and the research in the Wichita region, and he said he will work with faculty to look at creating unique programs with partners in such areas as health care, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cyber security, digital humanities and other areas.
Golden said he will be hosting Sunday events at the President’s Home for students, and he will be working to get to know the faculty, and he will work with the faculty senate and the student senate to develop a trained and diverse pipeline of future leaders.
Golden is currently the vice chancellor at East Carolina, and he served previously in faculty and administrative roles at Arizona State University and Duke University.
