Provost Michelle McCauley to Step Down at End of Academic Year
President Ian Baucom sent the following message to the Middlebury community on January 22.
Dear Middlebury Community,
I am writing with news of an upcoming transition in my executive leadership team that will take place at the end of this academic year.
Over the course of winter term, Provost Michelle McCauley and I have talked about the next stages in her remarkable career as an administrator, professor, and researcher—and I wanted to share that Michelle will be stepping down from her position as executive vice president and provost on June 30 to explore future opportunities. Starting July 1, Michelle will take a sabbatical and pursue her next steps, either as a leader at another institution or through returning to her work as a teacher and scholar on the Middlebury faculty. I look forward to supporting her in her new endeavors.
I want to express my deep gratitude to Michelle for her exceptional service to Middlebury both as a close advisor to me from the moment I was appointed as president and as a leader who has stepped up to do what is best for Middlebury time and again. Throughout her career, Michelle has continually accepted new challenges without hesitation, even in the most trying of circumstances, doing so with steadiness and deep care for our people and our mission.
An accomplished professor of psychology, Michelle joined Middlebury in 1995, with a focus on applying psychological theory to societal challenges, including legal and environmental decision-making and eyewitness memory. Michelle’s research reflects the best of Middlebury’s teacher-scholar tradition—rigorous, timely, and student-engaged. She oversaw Middlebury’s Conservation Psychology Lab, and in 2021 cofounded The Vermont Center for Behavioral Science Research on Climate and the Environment. That same year she was tapped as the first director of the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation to launch the cross-disciplinary initiative. In that inaugural position, Michelle built the foundation of the Collaborative, focused on building the capacity for productive conflict and community resilience. She soon had to transition away from this role, when she was asked to join Middlebury’s senior administration after the tragic passing of former Provost and Executive Vice President Jeff Cason.
Michelle served in the interim role for 18 months before being named executive vice president and provost in 2024. Throughout her tenure, she has worked to provide greater support for faculty research and teaching. When Middlebury faced higher than usual enrollments after the height of the pandemic, Michelle spearheaded a program in Copenhagen for first-year students to ease housing pressures on campus as part of an institution-wide effort to improve enrollment forecasting and planning. Michelle has also co-chaired a task force on artificial intelligence, bringing together trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and industry experts.
After my and the Board’s decision this past fall to conclude our residential graduate programs in Monterey, Michelle stepped into a leading role in guiding the MIIS wind-down with a focus on ensuring that our last classes of MIIS students are fully supported as they complete their degrees. She and her team have been integral to our ongoing strategic planning process and countless other projects. On a personal and professional level, Michelle has been a wonderful colleague—a wise, selfless counselor, dedicated to the best for our entire Middlebury community.
We will be conducting a national search for our next provost, and I will share more information about that process soon. Today, though, my focus is on my admiration and gratitude for Michelle. Please join me in deeply thanking her for all she has done for Middlebury and wishing her well as she explores this next chapter of her career.
Sincerely,
Ian B. Baucom
President