NYIT Welcomes New Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

Lou Reinisch, Ph.D., an accomplished educator, researcher, and university administrator, has joined NYIT as associate provost for academic affairs.

In partnership with the faculty and academic leadership of NYIT, Reinisch will contribute to and support the successful development of new NYIT degree proposals and plans, oversee degree programs, minors, the core curriculum, and serve as NYIT’s liaison to the New York State Department of Education. Reporting to NYIT Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rahmat Shoureshi, Ph.D., Reinisch will lead and promote interdisciplinary programs and innovative curriculum development in collaboration with academic deans, and help drive initiatives to increase student retention and achieve excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service.

He also will oversee annual planning and target achievement of the Office of the Registrar and Vocational Independence Program (VIP), and monitor NYIT's compliance with academic policies and procedures.

"Lou stood out as our ideal candidate due to his depth of experience and success in curriculum development, attracting and retaining outstanding faculty, and increasing academic scholarship and research funding levels," said Shoureshi. "And his global perspective and strategic planning prowess will be invaluable to NYIT in both near- and long-term initiatives."

Reinisch joins NYIT from SUNY Farmingdale, where he was dean of arts and sciences. Previously, he was head of the Department of Physical and Earth Sciences at Jacksonville State University in Alabama and dean of the College of Science at University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He also spent more than a decade at Vanderbilt University as an assistant and then associate professor in the departments of Otolaryngology and Physics.

"NYIT offers an array of fantastic academic programs, first-rate faculty members, and top-notch staff," said Reinisch. "I have the opportunity and challenge to work with all of them and help to create a 21st-century institution that defines what higher education can and should be."

Reinisch earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a research fellow at the University of Muenster in Germany and a research associate at the Biological Research Center in Szeged, Hungary. He is a frequent public speaker, has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, and has nearly 50 book chapters in textbooks and proceedings.