Dr. Manuel Avalos is UNCW’s new Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Support and Development, overseeing general faculty support and development issues, the Office of Faculty Leadership, the Center for Teaching Excellence, and academic construction programming. He comes to us from Arizona State University, where he was the Associate Vice Provost for Research and Faculty Development. He holds a doctoral degree in political science from the University of New Mexico. Manny is not with us today, having returned to Phoenix to move his household to Wilmington.

Dr. Stephen L. McFarland is UNCW’s new Vice Provost and Professor of History. He comes to Wilmington after serving for 10 years at various levels in the administration at Auburn University. His research and publications focus on the history of flight. Current projects include a history of the development of high octane gasoline from 1913 to 1945 and a more general biographical history of the leading characters in the first fifty years of flight from 1903 to 1953. Dr. McFarland earned his Ph.D. and M.A. at the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. at the University of Kansas.