Lawrence Journal-World Shows Dr. Jeff Vitter’s Work Ethic, Fun Personality

Dr. Jeffrey Vitter, photo by Nick Krug as viewed on LJWorld.com

In 2010, Dr. Jeffrey Vitter became the new Provost for Kansas University. This year, he may be the new Chancellor for the University of Mississippi.

The Lawrence Journal-World (LJWorld.com) published a profile on then-new provost. Its writer, Andy Hyland, reporter for Lawrence Journal-World, wrote that Dr. Vitter is “a hard-working successful administrator, but also a warm, affable personality, according to those who know him well.”

Here is an excerpt from the profile:

“(Vic) Hunter also praised Vitter for bringing tools from the business world into academia. For example, he took a new approach to hiring faculty at Purdue that went beyond looking at resumes, to incorporating behavioral profiles to get a sense of whether people’s personalities would be a good match for the university.

He also developed employee loyalty mechanisms to try to identify ways to retain talented people and keep them energized about their role.

“It seems so simple and understood in the business community, but in the academic community, it was breathtaking,” Hunter said.

Nearly everyone who has dealt with Vitter has praised his planning skills — as provost at Texas A&M; University he helped develop and maintain a master planning process, and has focused on that as a way for KU to get faculty and others involved and engaged in new innovative ideas.”

Read the rest of the profile here.