UMass Dartmouth announced Wednesday the appointment of Dr. Hanchen Huang as the new Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Huang most recently served as the Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas.

He will officially start at UMass Dartmouth on July 18. 

“Dr. Huang is not only an extremely accomplished researcher and educator, he is also deeply committed to providing opportunities to students from all backgrounds,” Chancellor Mark Fuller said. “He has made a tremendous impact on the institutions where he served as a dean and department chair, and I am excited for him to join UMass Dartmouth as we continue to enhance the university’s national reputation and societal impact.”

The newly appointed provost earned his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from UCLA, a BS in Physics from Hebei Normal University and an MS in Theoretical Nuclear Physics from the Institute of Atomic Energy/Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China. Huang was a post-doctoral fellow in computational mechanics and materials at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

He said he is looking forward to joining the UMass Dartmouth administration.

“I am honored and excited to join a research university with such a strong trajectory of success, which also serves a diverse student population,” Huang said. “I look forward to working with UMass Dartmouth’s exceptional faculty, staff and students in the months ahead.”