Jeffery Elwell is a former President of

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

(ENMU).

Early life and college

Elwell spent much of his childhood in Southern California, graduating from James Monroe High School in 1975. He graduated from

California State University, Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

in 1979, with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in English. He attended graduate school at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

from 1979-80 before attending and graduating from the

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana Sys ...

in 1982 with an

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in Communication and Theatre. He earned a Ph.D. in Speech Communication and Theater from

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

in 1986.

Academic career

After spending time as a faculty member at three small private liberal arts institutions (

Virginia Intermont College Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia founded in 1884 to create additional educational opportunities for women. The college became coeducational in 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties duri ...

, Gardner-Webb University, and

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Established in 1893 as a seminary of the Advent Christian Church, the university has been independent since 1971. Approximately 6,200 students are enrolled in t ...

) between 1984 and 1989, he was appointed as associate professor and director of Theatre at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

(MSU) in 1989. He served at MSU until 1996, earning both tenure and promotion to full professor. In 1996, he moved to

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

as professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. In 1999, he was appointed as chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Executive Artistic Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He served in that role until November 2004 when he became the Founding Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. He served in that role until 2010 when he was appointed Provost at Auburn University Montgomery. In 2012, Elwell was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and served in that role until July 2017, when he was appointed President at ENMU.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwell, Jeffery Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Southern Illinois University alumni California State University, Bakersfield alumni Virginia Intermont College faculty Aurora University faculty Marshall University faculty Mississippi State University faculty East Carolina University faculty University of Tennessee faculty Eastern New Mexico University faculty People from North Hills, Los Angeles Louisiana State University alumni University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumni Gardner–Webb University University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Auburn University at Montgomery faculty University of Tennessee at Chattanooga faculty Academics from Los Angeles