Interim Associate Provost

Dr. William Powell serves as interim Associate Provost at Southern Miss. Former chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and founding director of its Master of Arts in the Teaching of Languages program, Dr. Powell has been at USM for 17 years. He is an associate professor of TESOL and French and continues to teach within the MATL program.

Dr. Powell received a bachelor of arts degree in French from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s in international affairs (African Studies) from Ohio University, and a doctorate in multilingual/multicultural education from Florida State University. He has significant experience both studying and working abroad, including two years in the Peace Corps teaching in Cameroon. With research interests in second language acquisition and teaching, Dr. Powell has published and made numerous conference presentations on issues concerning language learning and curriculum development within language programs.

At USM, Dr. Powell has served on numerous committees and councils, including recent service on the Academic Council, the Graduate Council, and the Faculty Senate, for which he served as president during the 2005-06 academic year. He also served as a faculty co-chair for the university’s Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund committee and worked alongside other faculty and staff members to assist colleagues at Southern Miss Gulf Coast recover from the storm.

 “I am pleased to have Dr. Powell join the provost’s office,” said Southern Miss interim provost Dr. Bobby Middlebrooks. “He has broad experience working with a variety of academic organizations on campus, and I know he’ll be an asset to our administrative team.”

Dr. Powell can be reached at 601-266-5002 or by E-mail at william.powell@usm.edu.