Baylor announces appointment of new provost

Dean of College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University will become Baylor’s chief academic officer

Following a global search led by a committee representing Baylor University faculty, staff and students, Baylor President and Chancellor Ken Starr announced the appointment of Edwin Trevathan, MD, MPH, dean and professor of epidemiology in the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University and professor of neurology and pediatrics at SLU's School of Medicine, as executive vice president and provost.

Trevathan will join the University June 1, 2015.

"Dr. Trevathan brings outstanding credentials and genuine enthusiasm for Baylor's unique mission and the community vision of Pro Futuris," Starr said. "As chief academic officer, he will be charged with advancing the University's academic programs and providing oversight on vitally important matters of academic affairs. In his own collaborative way, Dr. Trevathan will provide leadership to the academic enterprise while vigorously supporting the bedrock principles of shared governance and academic freedom. We know he will make a powerful impact on our future progress, and we are delighted to welcome him to the Baylor family."

"I am thrilled to have this opportunity to serve one of the world's outstanding Christian universities and to assist the faculty in fulfilling the great promise of Pro Futuris," Trevathan said. "Baylor maintains a deep and abiding commitment to scholarship and discovery across all disciplines, which it exercises powerfully in the context of Christian community, and a dedication to preparing women and men for lives of service. With this unique focus, Baylor University has meaningful impact in higher education and in the world. It is a profound honor that Judge Starr has invited me to join this remarkable and important institution at this time."

Trevathan earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1977 from Lipscomb University, where he was salutatorian and president of student government. In 1982, he received his master's degree in public health from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine. He completed residencies and post-doctoral fellowships at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, Yale University School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

After serving as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Trevathan held faculty appointments at Emory University, University of Kentucky, and then at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was associate professor and then professor of neurology and pediatrics in the School of Medicine.

A practicing pediatric neurologist, Trevathan has provided academic leadership as director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center and director of the Division of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, which has been among the nation’s top universities in extramural research funding. He also was neurologist-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital, where he oversaw a large division of academic pediatric neurologists and PhD researchers.

From 2007-10, Trevathan was director of the CDC'S National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. As a member of the senior leadership team, Trevathan was responsible for many of the CDC's activities in areas of child development, maternal and child health, genetics, blood disorders, birth defects and developmental disabilities. At SLU, Trevathan has led a college that includes five departments that cover the range of public health sciences, health management and policy, as well as the School of Social Work and programs in criminology, biosecurity and global health. SLU’s College of Public Health and Social Justice offers graduate and professional degrees, as well as five undergraduate majors.

Trevathan has served on a variety of committees at the National Institutes of Health, CDC, the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization that impact child health, maternal health and neurological disorders. While at CDC, he also served as the strategic lead for the pediatric response to the 2009 H1N1 flu epidemic. His global health experience includes public health, research, education and development projects in Honduras, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and China. He has published widely in child neurology and neuroscience, epidemiology and public health.

"The search committee is exceptionally grateful to welcome a person of Dr. Edwin Trevathan's caliber, character and commitment to lead the academic enterprise of our beloved University at the dawn of the 21st century," said Dr. Todd D. Still, The William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor's Truett Seminary and Faculty Regent, who chaired the 14-person provost search committee. "I am thrilled that Ed and his wife, Linda, will be joining the Baylor family. We are blessed beyond measure to have found a person of Ed's expertise and experience, not to mention his Christian wisdom and devotion, to serve as our chief academic officer."

When he arrives on campus in June, Trevathan will succeed Interim Provost David E. Garland, professor of Christian Scriptures at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Garland has served as interim provost since July 1, when Dr. Elizabeth Davis, became president of Furman University.