USIU appoints new vice-chancellor as Brown’s term ends

Professor Margee Ensign. PHOTO | POOL

The United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) University has appointed Professor Margee Ensign as the new substantive Vice-Chancellor.

University Council Chairman Kris Ole-Senanu has announced the appointment of Prof Ensign takes effect from September 1, 2022.

She takes over from interim Vice Chancellor Prof Freida Brown who had been recalled from retirement following the exit of Paul Tiyambe Zeleza in August 2021.

“The University Council is confident that Prof Ensign’s experience leading two very different organizations as Vice Chancellor will enable her to address the challenges and opportunities for USIU-Africa,” Mr Ole-Senanu said.

Prof Ensign has an outstanding track record with a stellar academic career, including 12 years as a successful Vice-Chancellor in Nigeria and in the US, where she was a formidable ambassador and successful fund-raiser.

She currently serves as the President of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, where she served as President from 2010 to 2017.

She was requested to return to AUN in 2021, having assumed the position of Vice-Chancellor (or President) of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 2017 to 2021.

The tenure of the previous substantive vice-chancellor, Prof Zeleza, was characterised by a clash with lecturers over salary cuts and a union following plans to lay off non-teaching staff.