Plymouth State University names meteorology head as new associate provost

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth State University named Lourdes Avilés associate provost effective July 1.

In her new role, Avilés will support the many initiatives and day-to-day operations of the Office of Academic Affairs, oversee and collaborate with student support services, disability services, advising and career services and lead several key advisory groups. She will also collaborate with academic program leaders in managing course offerings and oversee accreditation activities.

“I really enjoy the collaborative team environment that has long existed in the provost’s office and that Provost Nate Bowditch has continued to foster since he joined the university last year,” Avilés said. “Since I began this transition in June, I have not once felt like a fish out of water, even with the transition from faculty to administration. I will miss teaching, but I look forward to working with the administration, faculty and staff to continue strengthening the university’s cutting-edge programs, inclusive culture and economic vitality.”

Avilés will maintain the title of professor of meteorology and will continue her research, though she will take a step back from her teaching responsibilities.

Avilés has been teaching at PSU for nearly 20 years, serving as chair of PSU’s Meteorology and Physics programs and the leader of the Academic Unit for Computational, Applied, Mathematical and Physical Sciences for the past six years.

PSU’s nationally recognized Meteorology program is unique in the state of New Hampshire and one of a small number of programs in the entire Northeast region. It celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year.

Avilés joined PSU in 2004, after being raised and educated in Puerto Rico. She is believed to be the first Puerto Rican woman to earn a Ph.D. in atmospheric science and is an advisor to PSU’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) Center. She is a preeminent expert in atmospheric science, with an emphasis on light and color effects in the atmosphere and the historic New England Hurricane of 1938, the latter of which she wrote about in her first book, "Taken by Storm, 1938," which was published in 2013 and was recognized by the International Atmospheric Librarians with a History Choice Award in 2014.

Professor of Meteorology Eric Hoffman will fill the role of chair of the Meteorology program in fall 2024, after his partial sabbatical is complete. He previously served a similar role in the former Atmospheric and Chemical Science program. Until then, Hoffman will oversee the academic unit, which comprises Meteorology and Physics, Computer Science and Technology and Mathematics and the programs within these disciplines (including new and interdisciplinary majors such as Climate Studies, Robotics and Mathematical Data Science), alongside Mathematics faculty member Jennifer Nelson, Professor of Meteorology, Samuel Miller will serve as interim chair of the Meteorology program and coordinator of the graduate program that Hoffman previously oversaw. New Meteorology faculty member Ricardo Nogueira will serve as the Climate Studies coordinator.

Avilés succeeds former Associate Provost Patricia Cantor, who served in that role since June 2020 and has retired after more than three decades of faculty service.

To learn more about Plymouth State University, visit plymouth.edu.