The Board of Trustees of the American University of Phnom Penh today announced the appointment of Dr. Sharon A. Siverts as the University’s new President. Dr. Siverts will begin her duties on 1st July 2014.
Dr. Siverts brings to AUPP a long history of experience as a teacher, administrator, and educational strategic planner. She has, as Vice Chancellor or the equivalent position of President, led the Universities of Lesotho and Botswana, Kampala International University, and the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE.) In the United States she served as Associate Provost at George Mason University in Virginia, and as Vice President for Academic Affairs at North Dakota State University and at Metropolitan State College of Denver in Colorado.
Sharon Siverts has considerable experience in strategic planning for institutions of higher education, in teacher education, and in international education. In the UAE she was Director of the Commission for Academic Administration of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research; she also served as a Senior Program Specialist in Higher Education and Teacher Education at UNESCO in Paris.
Dr. Siverts received her Ph.D. in Education from the Pennsylvania State University, and her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Ohio University. She was a Fulbright Fellow in the Philippines and Germany, and served as a Board member of Association of Commonwealth Universities, Associate Board member of the International Association of Universities and International Association of University Presidents. She speaks and writes in the areas of international education, teacher education, higher education, and human ecology. She has been active in HIV-AIDS education, and has worked with post-conflict countries in the development of higher education and teacher education.
Speaking at the AUPP campus after the announcement of her appointment, Dr. Siverts said was “happy and excited” at the opportunity take part in the building the American University of Phnom Penh. “We are going to do this together,” she said, “the students, the staff, the faculty, and the Board of Trustees.”
The Board of Trustees also announced the AUPP’s current Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Margaret Hartman, has agreed to remain in her post until the end of 2014. Dr. Hartman had previously been scheduled to leave AUPP at the end of August.