Richard M. Englert, who will become Temple's acting president on July 1, has announced that Hai-Lung Dai has been appointed as interim provost. Dai is dean of the College of Science and Technology, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Chemistry and the senior vice provost for International Affairs at Temple.

"For the last five years, Hai-Lung Dai has shown a keen understanding of the needs of our students and a true appreciation for the talents of our faculty," said Englert, who is leaving the provost's position to become acting president. "Hai-Lung has exceeded my expectations while taking on increasing responsibility, and I am fully confident that he will be the kind of leader Temple needs during this critical point."

Dai said he appreciates the tremendous responsibilities in the provost's post and agreed with Englert that his appointment comes at an important time.

"There are many challenges facing higher education as a whole and Temple in particular," said Dai. “We cannot afford to lose time in meeting these challenges, particularly in the areas of financial support. At the same time, I am particularly concerned with enhancing the quality of education for our students, so that it empowers them to excel in an ever more competitive world.”

A graduate of National Taiwan University, Dai holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1984 he joined as faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was chair of the chemistry department, funding director of the Penn Science Teacher Institute, and the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry. In 2007, he assumed his current positions at Temple.

View a detailed biography of Hai-Lung Dai.