Canan Bilen-Green has been named vice provost for advancement of faculty, a new part-time position in the provost’s office. She began the position June 1.
Bilen-Green, professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, is executive director of NDSU’s National Science Foundation-funded Advance FORWARD project. Most recently, she served as interim director of the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.
“Dr. Bilen-Green brings a wealth of experience to this position,” said Bruce Rafert, provost. “Her work with Advance FORWARD is particularly meaningful to this role, which is meant to increase accountability and foster measurable progress in faculty advancement. We will be diligently emphasizing junior and mid-career faculty, women faculty, faculty with disabilities and faculty of color at all academic ranks.”
Bilen-Green earned her doctorate at the University of Wyoming and has been with NDSU since 1998. She teaches a wide variety of industrial and manufacturing engineering, transportation and logistics, and managerial logistics courses. Her research is in quality management in higher education, statistical process control and applied operations research. Since coming to NDSU, she has twice been a summer NASA research fellow.
In addition to extensive service roles, Bilen-Green leads the NDSU Advance FORWARD grant project, a National Science Foundation-funded effort aimed at advancing women faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and at transforming the climate to one that more fully supports and nurtures all people in the organization to develop to their fullest potential. As executive director, she provides daily oversight, managing programs, directing research programs, supervising personnel, monitoring budget and assisting other institutions with similar grants.
“I am deeply committed to our institution, and I look forward to strengthening and building our culture of faculty support and advancement,” Bilen-Green said.
Rafert created the vice provost for advancement of faculty position to institutionalize the work begun by the Advance FORWARD project. National Science Foundation funds will pay for the position for the coming year.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.