Tennessee State University has recruited a dean for its School of Graduate Studies and Research from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville.

Michael E. Orok has been associate provost for academic affairs and graduate studies at Alabama A&M, where he also was interim dean of its School of Graduate Studies. He has more than 25 years of experience in higher education both as faculty and administrator.

“Dr. Orok comes to the University with a wealth of administrative experience and a dynamic vision that will move our School of Graduate Studies and Research forward,” said Dr. Millicent Lownes-Jackson, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs.

A graduate of Central State University in Ohio, Orok also has served for several years as professor and chair of the department of history and political science at Albany State University in Georgia. He is the immediate former vice president of the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools and a 2005 graduate of the Millennium Leadership Institute of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

“I am honored to assume the position of Dean in the School of Graduate Studies and Research at this historically enriched institution of higher learning,” Orok said. “I plan to work with faculty colleagues and the administration to ensure that we utilize the tools and knowledge base of our various academic disciplines to promote sound intellectual dialogue and engagement in addition to sharpening the enterprise of academic inquiry through research, teaching and service.”