M.
DUANE NELLIS
Provost, senior vice president
M.
Duane Nellis has spent his entire career at land-grant universities
and now is provost of Kansas State University, one of the nation's
first land-grant institutions. He was named K-State's provost
in 2004.
The provost is the university's chief academic officer. The deans of the nine academic colleges, the libraries, Graduate School and the Division of Continuing Education report to the provost.
Nellis spent 17 years at K-State, progressing from assistant professor of geography to professor and head of the department, and then to senior associate dean of K-State's College of Arts and Sciences. He was the first director of K-State's Institute for Social and Behavioral Research. In 1997 he accepted a post as dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University.
Nellis' research interests have been in the areas of natural resource systems and geo-spatial analysis technologies such as satellite remote sensing applications and Geographic Information Systems. He has published more than 100 research articles and numerous books and book chapters.
He is a member and immediate past president of the Association of American Geographers, the nation's largest professional geography organization, which presented him the John Fraser Hart Award for Research Excellence as well as national honors. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and former president of the National Council for Geographic Education. He received a Presidential Citation Award from the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He also is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Soil Conservation Society of America. At K-State, he won the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 1986, Adviser of the Year Award in 1985, and the K-State Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Research Scholar Award in 1995. He was selected as a distinguished lecturer for 1993-94 by the Kansas Academy of Science.
Nellis earned his Ph.D. in 1980 and his master's degree in 1977. Both degrees are in geography from Oregon State University. He earned a bachelor's degree in geography from Montana State University in 1976.
University offices also reporting to the provost include: the vice provost for research, the vice provosts for academic services and technology, planning and analysis, assessment and program review, diversity and dual career development, international programs, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, the Kansas Center for Rural Initiatives, and Academic Services and Honor Council.
Nellis can be reached at 785-532-6224 and via e-mail at provost.nellis@k-state.edu.