St. Cloud State University President Earl H. Potter III has announced the university’s next Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, who will begin the position in July.

Dr. Ashish Vaidya has experience working with non-profit agencies and local governments in economic development. Vaidya currently is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles. He received his undergrad in economics at the University of Mumbai and a master’s degree and Ph.D in economics at University of California, Davis.

President Potter says in a campus-wide email that Vaidya’s experience in strategic planning, new program development, student success and community engagement will be invaluable to SCSU.

Vaidya will be replacing interim SCSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Richard Green. Four candidates visited campus this fall to meet with students, faculty and staff and the search committee.