Dr. Nancy S. Niemi is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). Niemi's commitment to educational and social equity is evidenced in her work with universities across the country and in her research and publications throughout her career. Her experience in education includes positions as Professor and Chair of the Education Department at the University of New Haven as well as an elected school board member and as a middle school English teacher. Prior to her position at UMES, Niemi was the inaugural Director of Faculty Teaching Initiatives at Yale University's Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning.

Niemi's continuing professional inquiry centers on the intersections of gender, social equity, and higher education. She has published widely on social equity in schools. Her book, Degrees of Difference: Women, Men, and the Value of Higher Education (Routledge, 2017) explores the assertion that U.S. women's dominance in college degree completion has given rise to the belief that women now have cultural and socio-economic advantages over men. She and co-author Marcus Weaver-Hightower published the Wiley Handbook of Gender Equity in Higher Education in December 2020. In early 2022, Edward Elgar Publishing will issue, Course Design and Assessment co-authored by Niemi and colleagues Kathy Lund-Dean (Gustavus Adolphus University) and Charles Fornaciari (LaSalle University).

Under Niemi's leadership, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is pursing the establishment of an undergraduate STEM degree program, as part of an initiative with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Driving Change Competition (UMES is a finalist in this program). In 2020, UMES established the Men of Color in Education program, one of the few programs in Maryland designed for high school students, university students, and career changers who are interested in teaching. Niemi has been active in leadership of professional and community organizations throughout her career as well, including the Research on Women in Education (American Education Research Association), Edgerton Park Conservancy (New Haven, CT), the Newtown Historical Society (Salisbury, MD), and the Friends of the Library (Horseheads, NY).

Nancy Niemi CV

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