Executive Vice Provost Tom Sheahan will take over as interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, President Joseph E. Aoun announced June 1.
Aoun’s announcement comes five days after The Huntington News first reported on the unexpected departure of Beth Winkelstein, the long-time University of Pennsylvania administrator who assumed the position last August. The email, sent to Northeastern’s faculty and staff, is the first official notice from the university about Winkelstein’s departure.
It is unclear why Winkelstein no longer holds her position. The university did not answer The News’ questions about why she left.
Sheahan, who has been at Northeastern for 35 years, will serve as interim provost for two years. During the last provost search, Sheahan previously held the role of interim after former Provost David Madigan stepped down in June 2025.
Sheahan attended Union College as an undergraduate, earning a degree in civil engineering. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer for five years before going to MIT for a civil engineering master’s and doctorate. Sheahan joined the Northeastern community as a professor in the College of Engineering in 1991.
Throughout his tenure at the college level, Sheahan held positions including interim chair and senior associate dean of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In 2019, he joined the Office of the Provost as senior vice provost for curriculum and programs, later stepping into the role of executive vice provost in 2022.
“Tom’s progression through leadership roles in his department to the college to the university is a stellar example of an individual who has stepped forward when circumstances require his considerable talents and experience,” Aoun wrote.
His research, which focuses on “geotechnical testing and soil characterization for infrastructure and sustainability,” has been published widely and funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Additionally, Sheahan is an active leader in ABET, the engineering accreditation organization, and the American Society for Civil Engineers.
Sheahan is taking over amid three dean searches between the College of Science, the College of Engineering and the D’Amore-McKim School of Business.
“I look forward to working with Tom — and everyone in the Northeastern community — as we continue to chart an ambitious course for the future of Northeastern,” Aoun wrote.
