Provost Hanson will leave IU by February

Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson was named the senior vice president and provost of the University of Minnesota today, according to a U of M press release.

A University of Minnesota alumna, Hanson will begin her post Feb. 1. She will remain at IU until that time.

She received bachelor’s degrees in philosophy in mathematics from U of M in 1970. She received her master’s and doctorate degrees in philosophy from Harvard University in 1980.

Hanson has served in her as provost and executive vice president since 2007 and has worked as a professor of philosophy and dean of the Hutton Honors College.

“Karen’s departure leaves a void both on the Bloomington campus and on the Indiana University leadership team,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release. “I have every confidence that Karen will make the same type of positive difference at the University of Minnesota that she has made at Indiana University.”

A search for IU’s new provost is pending and there are no specific deadlines for that search set at this time, McRobbie said in the release.