WesternU names Dr. Paula Crone Provost

Dear WesternU Family, Colleagues and Friends,

I am delighted to announce that Paula Crone, D.O., will serve as WesternU’s next Provost.

WesternU is proud of its strong commitment to a thorough and diligent search process. The decision of Provost was based upon what is best for WesternU, and who possesses the best “fit-in index” for WesternU at this point in time. WesternU has an ambitious vision catalyzed by numerous recent initiatives the most compelling of which include: 1) a recent gift of $22.5M and 150 acres of land on the Santiam River in Lebanon, Oregon; 2) a time of growth and expansion for both the Oregon and California campuses; 3) an international Capital Campaign facilitated by Marts & Lundy; 4) designing WesternU’s future through a university-wide initiative to create a Master Business Plan and college-specific Strategic Business Plans for WesternU’s 8 colleges, facilitated by RW Jones Agency and Rankin Climate; 6) the establishment of a 9th College of Behavioral Health; 7) and a multitude of new scholastic initiatives for the WesternU students.

I am honored to be firmly aligned with WesternU’s five branches of governance behind the university mission. In the full spirit of shared governance, I am keen to work in close partnership with the new Provost and the 5 areas of governance to promote WesternU’s ambitious vision. I urge you to join me and the rest of the 5 branches of governance in supporting the next Provost and working together to continue to advance our very important mission. Ultimately, we are united in our desire to catapult WesternU to international pre-eminence in which the university will exemplify the optimum in Health Sciences graduate education. The clear goal is to produce the finest Healthcare clinicians that the world has seen, the training of which is firmly rooted in humanism, compassion, the osteopathic tenets, and strongly committed to health equity, diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism. The global community can then turn to WesternU as a prototype beacon in the higher education Healthcare space. I am thrilled to move forward together with the Provost to attain such a goal.

Dr. Crone has served as Interim Provost since April 2022 and will begin her official role as Provost on February 6, 2023. Read the official press release. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Crone served as Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) & COMP-Northwest at Western University of Health Sciences from September 2013 until April 2022. Dr. Crone served as Interim Dean of COMP & COMP-Northwest from July 2012 to September 2013 and as Executive Associate Dean for COMP-Northwest from July 2010 until December 2012.

Dr. Crone helped launch the COMP-Northwest campus, the first new medical school in Oregon in over a century. Crone’s leadership of WesternU’s Oregon campus has been guided by her goal of developing the highest quality osteopathic medical academic program in Oregon and supporting healthcare professionals of the future. Dr. Crone led the COMPNorthwest project from its earliest inception, from construction to a now-thriving osteopathic practitioner program. Dr. Crone is experienced in fundraising, having helped WesternU’s Oregon and California campuses raise over $30 million for new scholarships, simulation equipment and space, communication and learning platforms, expanded research opportunities, and increased faculty and student development opportunities; legislative management; enterprise development, with intimate knowledge of every piece required to build and accredit a new medical school; and recruitment and enrollment.

Prior to joining the WesternU leadership team, Dr. Crone was a respected family practitioner in Oregon, serving as a partner in private practice and as the Program Director of the Family Practice Residency Program at Eastmoreland Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Crone also served as a consultant for graduate medical education development at Samaritan Health Services (2005-2009) and on the Oregon Healthcare Workforce Task Group, appointed by then – Governor of Oregon, John A. Kitzhaber (2011-2013). Dr. Crone is an alumna of WesternU, earning her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. Her Bachelor of Science in biology was earned at the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon.

I would like to thank the Chair of the Provost Search Committee, Steven W. Friedrichsen, DDS, as well as co-chairs, Stephanie Bowlin, Ed.D., P.A. and Raj Kandpal, Ph.D. and the entire search committee, for their work and support in this complex process that is based on input from all five branches of WesternU’s governance and supporting the University’s mission and vision.

My very warmest regards,
Robin