James D. Moran III, assistant vice president for academic affairs for the University of Tennessee System, has been appointed associate vice chancellor for academic and student affairs of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Moran will be responsible for coordinating the evaluation of new program proposals from the 14 PASSHE universities, assisting the universities with institutional and program accreditation efforts, coordinating System-sponsored professional development programs and assisting in strategic planning and System accountability efforts. He also will research and draft recommended changes to academic and student affairs policies, which will be considered by PASSHE’s Board of Governors.

Moran has served as an assistant vice president in the University of Tennessee System office since March 2004. Previously, he was associate provost for accreditation and state relations at the University of Tennessee, and, before that, was dean of the university’s College of Human Ecology. He began his academic career as an assistant professor in the School of Home Economics at the University of Oklahoma in 1978.

“Dr. Moran will play an important role in helping PASSHE continue along the path of academic excellence,” said Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Peter H. Garland. “He will work closely with all of the universities as they develop and refine programs that will provide our students with the tools they need to be successful and that will meet the needs of the Commonwealth.”

Dr. Moran earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and history at Duke University. He also holds a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in psychology and history from Duke.

He has served on the faculties at the University of Oklahoma, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Oklahoma State University and the University of Tennessee. He held the position of assistant head of the Department of Family and Child Development at Virginia Tech for two years and head of the Department of Family Relations and Child Development at Oklahoma State for four years.

He was associate dean for research and business administration in the University of Tennessee’s College of Human Ecology for nine years and concurrently spent nearly six years as vice president of the University of Tennessee Research Corporation. He was named dean of the College of Human Ecology in July 1998 and held that position until 2002 when he was appointed associate vice provost.

He has served on numerous university and system committees during his academic career and has received a variety of grants, awards and other recognitions.

Dr. Moran is president of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, a 9,200-member organization that was established in 1909 to improve the quality and standards of individual and family life through programs that educate, influence public policy, disseminate information and publish research findings. He also is vice chair of the Board of Human Sciences and was a member for five years of the Board’s Federal Relations Committee.

He has published dozens of articles in professional journals and other publications and has presented his work at regional, national and international meetings and conferences. He has been a consultant to, among others, Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

With nearly 106,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 400,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.