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Scott L. Scarborough
(2014-2016)
Dr. Scott L. Scarborough became The University of Akron’s 16th president on July 1, 2014. Prior to joining UA, Scarborough served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Toledo since 2012. He was the chief academic and operating officer, responsible for 12 colleges and the divisions that managed student affairs, enrollment management, libraries, registrar’s office and university teaching center
Scarborough previously served as Senior Vice President and Executive Director of The University of Toledo Medical Center. During his tenure the medical center won the Press Ganey National Success Story of the Year Award and was named Best Hospital in the Region by U.S. News & World Report. The center also experienced its best Joint Commission accreditation survey during that time.
Scarborough’s career in higher education also includes positions as Executive Vice President for operations at DePaul University and Vice President for Business Affairs and CFO at the University of Texas at Tyler. He also held senior leadership positions at Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company and Coopers & Lybrand/KPMG Peat Marwick.
He earned a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the University of Texas at Arlington, an MBA from the University of Texas at Tyler, and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
During President Scarborough’s tenure many new academic programs and degrees were created, including a joint JD/MSA in Financial Forensics (then the only program of its kind in the country) and two new bachelor of science degrees (Criminology and Criminal Justice and Criminal Intelligence Analysis), and the first bachelor’s degrees in corrosion engineering were awarded. In addition, the College of Health Professions was created and the Experiential Learning Center for Entrepreneurship & Civic Engagement (EXL Center) was established.
Under Dr. Scarborough’s leadership, the University also forged new partnerships and acquired significant donations, including a $5 million gift from the Knight Foundation to create the National Center for Choreography (only the second of its kind in the nation), $12.5 million to support start-ups and commercialize technologies, and $10 million from the Williams Family for the Honors College, which was renamed in their honor. Finally, a partnership was formed between UA and the LeBron James Family Foundation, with the College of Education being renamed in honor of the foundation.
“I am a big believer that public education matters. It changes lives for the better, and it is the key to making what we call the American Dream an American reality.”
– Scott L. Scarborough
Photograph Courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
During President Scarborough’s administration The University of Akron formed an important partnership with LeBron James and the LeBron James Family Foundation. In the photo above, Scarborough and James jointly announce the new partnership to more than 6,000 students and parents at the Foundation’s “I PROMISE” Network at Cedar Point. The partnership included offering scholarships to the students in the program and renaming the College of Education after the foundation. LeBron James would later make several commercials to promote the University and the importance of acquiring an education.
Photograph Courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
One of President Scarborough’s accomplishments was the creation of the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron, only the second of its kind in the nation. The center was created in 2015 in collaboration with DANCECleveland and with funding from the Knight Foundation. Its purpose is to provide dance makers and their collaborators with a wide variety of research opportunities, working spaces, and resources to think, create, and be inspired. According to Scarborough, “The University of Akron is already known around the nation and the world for its excellence in areas including polymer science and engineering, With the addition of the choreography center, we will become one of few institutions with a national presence in both the sciences and the arts.”
Photograph Courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
Under Dr. Scarborough’s leadership, The University of Akron established the Center for Data Science, Analytics, and Information Technology. The idea behind the interdisciplinary center was to improve academic leadership, student outcomes, and community engagement in the emerging areas of data science and analytics, and in the established areas of information technology and systems. As part of the Department of Statistics, the Data Science track is designed to provide students with skills needed to work with the “big data” problems that arise in business, industry, government, and medical research. In the image above, President Scarborough signs the temporary wall outside what will become the new center at the announcement event.
Photograph Courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
In addition to the National Center of Choreography and Center for Data Sciences and Information Technology, President Scarborough oversaw the creation and early development of the Center for Experiential Learning, Entrepreneurship, and Civic Engagement. Also known as the EX[L] Center, the new initiative was formed to connect students to internships, service learning, study abroad and business start-up activities.
Photograph Courtesy of University Communications and Marketing
During President Scarborough’s administration, Drs. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams, distinguished alumni, generous donors, and beloved community advocates, donated $10 million to help advance the continued growth and expansion of the University’s Honors College. In the photo above, taken on February 3, 2016, President Scarborough announces the gift and the renaming of the College in honor of the Williams’s, as they and Dr. Lakeesha Ransom, new Dean of the Honors College, look on.
“Scott is a gifted strategist and is one of the smartest people with whom I’ve worked”
– Lloyd A. Jacobs