SAN FRANCISCO — Golden Gate University (GGU) today announced the appointment of Colleen O’Connor, Ph.D., as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
Dr. O’Connor will lead GGU’s efforts to advance academic excellence across the university. Her portfolio includes faculty affairs and relations, academic governance and engagement with the Faculty Senate, curriculum management and academic policy, academic quality, and institutional and programmatic accreditation and assessment.
“Academic excellence is the foundation of everything we do at GGU,” said Brent White, president of Golden Gate University. “Colleen brings more than two decades of experience advancing academic excellence and innovation, from her leadership in curricular affairs at Duke to guiding the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine through its initial accreditation as a founding academic leader. We are delighted to welcome her to GGU’s academic leadership team.”
Dr. O’Connor served as the first employee and founding senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, which she joined in 2020. In that role, she oversaw accreditation, curriculum and assessment, admissions, student affairs, financial aid, and the registrar, and she served as the school’s LCME faculty accreditation lead.
Before that, she spent 17 years in curriculum leadership at Duke University School of Medicine, including 14 years as associate dean for curricular affairs. At Duke, she co-chaired the school’s LCME reaccreditation self-study and served as its faculty accreditation lead. She also sat on the academic committee of Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore for 13 years. Her honors include Duke’s President’s Teamwork Award and an award for innovation in medical education from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
“I am pleased to join Golden Gate University as it advances academic excellence,” said Dr. O’Connor. “I look forward to partnering with faculty to build on GGU’s academic strengths and shape the university’s future.”
Dr. O’Connor holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Arizona and has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles on curriculum and assessment.
Golden Gate University (GGU) is a private, nonprofit university anchored in San Francisco and serving more than 19,000 students worldwide. GGU is reimagining higher education for the future of work as the world’s first AI-focused, global, multilingual university.
