David Madigan, Northeastern’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, is stepping down in June, according to a Jan. 16 email to Northeastern faculty and staff obtained by The Huntington News.
Madigan, who has served in one of the university’s highest-ranking positions since 2020, will remain on faculty as a professor in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, according to the email sent from President Joseph E. Aoun and confirmed by the university. The university will establish a search committee to recruit Madigan’s successor this spring.
“As Provost, David’s accomplishments have been transformative for our university’s learning and research mission,” Aoun wrote. “He was instrumental in the expansion of Northeastern’s global university system and played a critical role in navigating the unprecedented disruptions of a global pandemic.”
Madigan currently leads all of Northeastern’s schools and colleges as the chief academic officer, oversees research expansion and works with the university’s senior vice president for finance to establish the university’s financial priorities.
During fiscal year 2023, the university compensated Madigan $1.04 million in total earnings, in addition to a $2.7 million home loan granted for the third consecutive year, according to Northeastern’s Form 990.
He joined Northeastern after 12 years at Columbia University, where he served as the executive vice president for arts and sciences and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Previously, he was the dean of mathematical and physical sciences at Rutgers University. Originally from Ireland, he holds a doctoral degree in statistics from Trinity College Dublin.
Madigan’s appointment to his position in the spring of 2020 marked the first time in the university’s history that its top three positions were occupied by immigrants — Aoun is originally from Lebanon and Ken Henderson, Northeastern’s chancellor and senior vice president for learning, hails from Scotland.
Along with Northeastern’s senior leadership, Madigan “played a critical role” in Northeastern’s rapid growth throughout his five years as provost, including expanding Northeastern’s undergraduate campuses through the acquisition of Mills College in Oakland and Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. He also oversaw Northeastern’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its timeline for reopening.
Madigan spoke to the university’s faculty senate one day before the university internally announced he would step down, emphasizing the importance of a close relationship between faculty and administration.
“This is the fourth major university I’ve worked at, and I’ve seen faculty governance at work in different ways and different institutions,” Madigan said at the Jan. 15 faculty senate meeting. “The closer the administration is to the heart of faculty governance, the stronger it is, and the more we all get done together. And I feel this, in many ways, is a tie that binds us, and I can tell you that when I started as provost and I saw that, ‘Oh, the provost is the chair of the faculty senate,’ that’s a very strong signal, and something I took — and I take — very seriously.”
At the end of the email, Aoun commended Madigan’s commitment and collaborations during his time at Northeastern.
“I want to thank David for his unwavering dedication to the mission of Northeastern and for his leadership across our teaching and research enterprise. On a personal note, I am grateful for his friendship and partnership at this exciting time in the history of our university,” Aoun wrote.
