Ron Darbeau named associate vice president for Commonwealth Campuses

Darbeau will continue to serve concurrently as chancellor and dean of Penn State Altoona

July 29, 2024

ALTOONA, Pa. - Ron Darbeau, chancellor and dean at Penn State Altoona, has been named associate vice president for Commonwealth Campuses in Penn State's Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses (OVPCC), effective August 1, 2024. In addition to his new duties, Darbeau will continue to serve as chancellor and dean at Altoona. Darbeau succeeds David Callejo Pérez, who was appointed chancellor and dean at Penn State Harrisburg in May of this year.

"I am extremely humbled and grateful to Vice President DelliCarpini for this opportunity to serve the Commonwealth Campuses as her associate vice president," said Darbeau. "I accept the role clear-eyed both with respect to the challenges we face as well as to the opportunities they present to reimagine and remake the campuses into a fluid, interconnected student-centric ecosystem vibrant with place-focused services and academic programming. I look forward, in this hybrid role, to working with Margo, the team in the OVPCC, and with my fellow chancellors in heralding a new era of efficiency and prosperity at the campuses - positioning ourselves to best serve our students and the commonwealth and support our faculty and staff."

Associate Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses

In this redefined role, Darbeau will be responsible for development, approval and review of new academic programs at 20 geographically distributed Commonwealth Campuses, implementation of the Academic Program and Portfolio Review outcomes, accreditation matters and oversight of inter-institutional articulation agreements for the 20 campuses. He also will collaborate with central University offices, councils, academic leadership, and the Faculty Senate on a variety of curricular affairs matters.

"We are incredibly fortunate to extend Dr. Darbeau's talents and higher education knowledge and expertise beyond Penn State Altoona, with the understanding that Altoona remains a priority, and its importance to the Commonwealth Campuses cannot be understated," said Margo DelliCarpini, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses.

This three-year term leadership appointment advances the goal of transforming operations across the campuses and within the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses by streamlining the leadership structure, reducing administrative overhead, and providing enhanced opportunities for collaboration across all locations. It helps provide a sustainable future for the organization and allows for flexibility to respond to impending needs and opportunities.

Continued Commitment to Penn State Altoona

As part of this hybrid position, DelliCarpini and Darbeau have insisted that he continues to serve as chancellor and dean of Penn State Altoona, working with faculty, staff, and the community to accomplish the goals set forward in the college's ambitious "Vision 2030."

"In my time in academia, I have never encountered a more passionate and dedicated group of faculty and staff than those who I have the great fortune to work with at Penn State Altoona," said Darbeau. "The campus is perfectly poised to usher in a period of unprecedented growth made possible by the incredible campus and broader community. The work we've begun together is already bearing significant fruit and I am thrilled and committed to continue our efforts to herald a bright future for our college and our students."

Since joining Penn State Altoona in January 2023, Darbeau has implemented numerous new initiatives, including the creation of the Student Success Center; the hiring of the college's first director of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging; the creation of the Belonging Center; the ongoing expansion of athletics programs; and the implementation of the digital equity initiative.

Prior to coming to Penn State Altoona, Darbeau served as vice president for faculty affairs and academic operations at Commonwealth University, the integrated institution of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities that was established in July 2022. There, he served on the president's cabinet and provided leadership for faculty affairs for four campuses of approximately 13,000 students and 800 faculty. He oversaw graduate education and sponsored research, institutional effectiveness and institutional research, libraries, the Clearfield branch campus of Lock Haven University (LHU), and workforce development. He joined LHU as provost and vice president for academic affairs in July 2020.

Prior to LHU, he served as interim dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas -Fort Smith for the 2019-20 academic year and as dean of the university's former College of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics and the School of Education from 2015 to 2020.

His academic career began at McNeese State University in 1996, where he was head of the Department of Chemistry and Physics for the last 12 years of his tenure.

A physical organic chemist, Darbeau has secured more than $2 million in grants for research, research training, infrastructure and student aid. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers and has mentored over 80 undergraduate and graduate students - many of whom are co-authors of his publications.

A fellow of the American Chemical Society, he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors and serves, or has served, on many committees, councils, and boards at the local, state and national levels - including current appointments with the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation, the Altoona Symphony Orchestra Board, the Greater Altoona Career and Technical Center Advisory Committee, and the Board of Trustees of Arkansas Colleges of Health Education.

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Darbeau holds a bachelor's degree with honors in chemistry from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus, and both master's and doctoral degrees in organic chemistry from Johns Hopkins University.

Ron resides in Boalsburg with his wife, Nyla, an Academic Adviser in Penn State's Center for Student Advising and Engagement in the College of Health and Human Development. The couple have four children.