Announcing the MPower Assistant Vice Provost

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

We are pleased to share that Heather W. Barthel has been named Assistant Vice Provost, MPower Initiatives, effective Tuesday, September 8.
 
In this role, Heather will support and advance the strategic vision of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower) to leverage the world-class strengths of both the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to drive economic growth, enhance education and create transformative impact across the state. Heather will report to the MPower Joint Steering Council, led by UMCP Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice, Ph.D., M.S., and UMB Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Mark A. Reynolds, DDS, Ph.D., M.A.

For more than two decades, Heather has worked in service to the state of Maryland. Most recently, she served as assistant secretary of administration for the Maryland Department of Agriculture, managing an annual operating budget of $125 million and overseeing internal operations for the entire department. In this role, she provided strategic advice on budget, policy, legislation, communications and other issues to the secretary, deputy secretary and other members of the department’s senior staff.

Prior to her work at the Department of Agriculture, she served the Maryland Department of the Environment for 19 years, most recently in the role of deputy director of the Water and Science Administration (WSA). In this capacity, Heather supervised the budget processes and operational services of the WSA with designated appointing authority on personnel matters, information technology needs, budgetary issues, legislation, regulations and other agency matters.

Previously, Heather also served as assistant director of government affairs for the Johns Hopkins Institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Bayview Medical Center, the Applied Physics Lab and other affiliated organizations. Through this work, she represented the institutions before the Maryland state legislature, Maryland Health Care Commission, Maryland Hospital Association and various other organizations.

Please join us in congratulating Heather and welcoming her to our two universities.


Sincerely,