Raymond Alden III, who has served as UNLV provost for nearly three years, is being promoted to the position of executive vice president and provost, university President Carol C. Harter announced Wednesday (June 11). The promotion is effective July 1.

Harter said that in his new job Alden will be responsible for overseeing more of the daily internal university operations, allowing her to devote more time to university-community relations.

"As a result of the increasing demands for my time in external relations, it is clear that I need assistance managing some of the day-to-day activities associated with internal university operations," Harter said in a memo to the campus. "An increasing commitment to private fundraising, external research activities, business partnership development, and community engagement require this shift in terms of how I spend a major portion of my time."

As provost, Alden already is the university's chief academic officer, overseeing UNLV's 14 academic units - 11 colleges, two professional schools, and the UNLV Libraries.

"I look forward to increasing the scope of my responsibilities on campus while continuing to maintain the close working relationship I already have with our colleges and other academic units," Alden said. "I thank Dr. Harter for this vote of confidence."

Alden joined UNLV in 1997 as dean of the College of Sciences. Immediately prior to coming to UNLV he served as director of the Applied Marine Research Laboratory at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from Stetson University in Deland, Fla., from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1971. He received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Florida in 1976.