President Aondover Tarhule is pleased to announce that Dr. Ani Yazedjian has accepted the role of vice president for academic affairs and provost for a five-year contract, effective May 1, 2024. Yazedjian has served as acting vice president for academic affairs and provost since February 2023.

“Dr. Yazedjian is a highly regarded, confident leader with a strong dedication to our strategic priorities concerning teaching, learning, and research at Illinois State,” Tarhule said. “The experience she brings as the University’s chief academic officer provides the stability and valuable insight needed to help guide Illinois State on its trajectory toward excellence.”

Tarhule announced a targeted search earlier this month, with Yazedjian as the nominee. In the interest of shared governance, inclusion, and diversity, she presented at an open forum on April 25, 2024, where the campus community was invited to attend, engage, and provide feedback.

“It is an honor to continue to serve Illinois State in this capacity,” Yazedjian said. “I look forward to continuing to strengthen partnerships across the campus and local community as we relentlessly pursue our mission to prepare students to become engaged and informed citizens.”

In her short tenure as acting provost, Yazedjian has established and revived professional development opportunities for academic leaders, implemented initiatives to support faculty research and creativity activity, provided leadership in the development of a framework for online learning and micro-credentials, convened the interdivisional Committee on Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence, shepherded new program development processes, allocated additional funding for student support services, and overseen the completion of the self-study for the accreditation process of the Higher Learning Commission that is currently underway. From launching a Provost Fellows program for tenured faculty, reinvigorating a professional development series for academic administrators, and conceptualizing the campus-wide Women as Transformational Leaders two-day event, to securing approval through the Illinois Board of Higher Education for several new academic programs and implementing the Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS) program, Yazedjian gives high praise to her team and is looking ahead with Illinois State.

“My guiding framework over the last 15 months has been focused on people, programs, and processes, grounded in equity, and driven by a deep sense of purpose about who we are as an institution and why we do what we do,” Yazedjian said. “This focus will not change. I will continue to work with partners across all divisions at Illinois State and in the community to ensure that we remain the school of choice for students and an employer of choice for faculty and staff. There will continue to be challenges for institutions of higher education in the future. But if we keep our focus on our people and work together to pursue excellence as an institution, then I am confident we will be a place where all students, faculty, and staff feel they belong and can thrive.”

Yazedjian previously served as associate provost from 2019-2023, serving on the university strategic planning steering team and the COVID-19 steering team.  Yazedjian also served as chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at Illinois State. She was named a University Professor in 2013 and received the University’s Distinguished Service Award in 2023.  

Yazedjian is an accomplished scholar, with 60 publications and 170 invited and peer-reviewed presentations. Her primary research areas have focused on relationship education, adolescent ethnic identity development, college student adjustment and achievement, and evidence-based practice. She has been awarded over $7 million in external funding to support her scholarship. In 2023, she was selected as a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations and in 2021, she received the Marie F. Peters Award, also from the National Council on Family Relations, a biennial recognition of a distinguished scholar, researcher, or practitioner who has made significant contributions to the area of racial and ethnic diversity in families.

Yazedjian earned a doctorate and a master’s degree in human and community development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Florida.