Katy Heyning named new SUNY Brockport Provost

Educator, activist and doctorate holder Katy Heyning has an impressive résumé. Most recently she has been able to add the position of provost at The College at Brockport to this lengthy list of accomplishments. With more than a decade of teaching experience and multiple publications and awards, the college is thrilled to bring such an accomplished woman to the campus.

Starting out her career as a fifth-grade teacher in a suburb in Highland Park just north of Chicago, Heyning spent the bulk of her career in higher education at various institutions. She was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona before moving to the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. At UWW, she held positions as professor, Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department, Associate Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies and Dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies amongst a number of other committees and terms on the Faculty Senate.

While she was living in Wisconsin, she and her partner of 25 years were at the forefront of couples pressing for same-sex marriage in the state. She was interviewed several times in regard to her activism for LGBTQ rights and happily lived out her dream of marrying her partner alongside seven other couples once same-sex marriage became legal in the state.

The provost is responsible for the education in the BA/BS programs curriculum, the Delta and Honors College programs, Military Science programs and the Student Learning Center among other things. After two years as Interim Provost, Jim Hayes’s tenure came to an end and as an important position on a college campus, the hunt for a new provost for the following 2018-19 academic year began. After the hiring was announced, President of the College at Brockport Heidi Macpherson, Ph.D., was more than excited to bring Heyning to campus.

“I’m delighted that Dr. Katy Heyning will be joining The College at Brockport as our new provost,” Macpherson said. “She brings a wealth of experience in higher education leadership, including on a national stage in her work on teacher education preparation.”

She intends to bring her focus on education and her research into higher education reform to the campus and is excited to join the students, faculty, staff and community here at Brockport.