DePaul University has named John J. Kozak, an experienced academic administrator and professor of chemistry, as its new executive vice president for Academic Affairs. Kozak took the reins on July 1, succeeding Richard J. Meister, who had served in the role for 10 years and is returning to the history department faculty.

Kozak, 62, joined DePaul from Iowa State University (ISU), where he served more than six years as provost before returning to the chemistry faculty to reconnect with the classroom and his passion for teaching.

“Professor Kozak has a wealth of experience in both private and public education,” said Kevin Stevens, president of DePaul’s Faculty Council. “His strengths include his experience in managing large and complex universities and colleges, and his leadership style, which emphasizes communication and collaboration across the university community.”

One of the items topping Kozak’s agenda is to begin the planning process for DePaul’s new strategic plan. “Strategic planning will be a university-wide conversation on how DePaul can improve, reaffirming values on which the university was founded while identifying and prioritizing areas for future development,” Kozak said.

“John has an exemplary record of scholarship and commitment to teaching,” said the Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., DePaul’s president. “His analytical, data-driven approach and his desire to enhance our Vincentian mission of service through quality education and social engagement make him an excellent addition to our executive team.”

Kozak is responsible for developing 2,200 full- and part-time faculty in nine colleges on seven campuses; maintaining and creating high-quality academic programs; and overseeing the Academic Resource Center, Enrollment Management, Institutional Planning and Research, Lifelong Learning, Sexual Harassment Policy Office, Student Affairs and University Libraries.

Like more than 40 percent of DePaul’s freshman class, Kozak was a first-generation college student within his family, and he is energized by DePaul’s Catholic, Vincentian and urban mission.

Prior to his tenure at ISU, Kozak served as dean of the Franklin College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia. Before that he served as assistant and then associate dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame, in addition to chairing and directing the Honors Program and the Program in Unified Science. He was a professor and administrator at Notre Dame for 20 years.

Kozak’s area of expertise is the molecular theory of thermodynamics, and his record of scholarship includes more than 160 contributions to the literature in his field. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Kozak received his Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1965, spent two years as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the University of Brussels and a year as a research associate at the University of Chicago.

During his 37-year career, he has been recognized with more than a dozen major awards and commendations from both American and foreign universities, including an honorary professorship and an honorary doctorate that cite his academic leadership, contributions to research and initiatives in international education. He has had extensive international experience, having held visiting professorships or led delegations on projects in many countries. He also served as an international consultant for a World Bank project to reform higher education in India and spent six years as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill.