Georgetown College Names New Provost
Submitted on January 10, 2022
GEORGETOWN, Ky., Jan. 10, 2022— Dr. Jonathan Sands Wise has been named Provost and Executive Vice President of Georgetown College. In this role, he will serve as the College’s chief academic officer.
President Rosemary Allen announced his appointment, stating, “As the events of the past few months played out, Dr. Sands Wise kept unwavering focus on providing supportive leadership that helped keep this College stable in a time of uncertainty. As Provost, he will bring his extraordinary creative capacity and gift for solving problems to the task of leading the academic program.”
Associated with Georgetown College since 2008, Sands Wise began as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy before being promoted to Associate Professor. After serving as the Associate Dean of Academic Success for a little over one year, Sands Wise was asked to become the Vice President of Enrollment Management in 2015. For the past six years, Sands Wise has overseen admissions, financial planning, academic success, and (from 2018-2020) the College’s marketing and communications operations. In January 2021, he was appointed as Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate and New Programs, while still serving as Interim Vice President of Enrollment Management. As Associate Provost, Sands Wise has continued to oversee the College’s COVID response efforts, and was also asked to be the point person for a multi-institutional Financial Sustainability Collaborative.
“I am honored to take on this role,” Sands Wise wrote. “Georgetown College is renowned for the exceptional educational experience that our faculty provide. Few schools so ably combine a challenging academic program with personal and supportive teaching, and the result is a Christian Liberal Arts program that prepares our students to succeed. I am excited to work with our faculty to continue this legacy of excellence in new and innovative ways.”
Sands Wise’s appointment as Provost comes after years of success as VP of Enrollment. During his tenure, Georgetown College saw an upward enrollment trend, achieving record-breaking enrollments. In 2019, Georgetown welcomed an incoming class of approximately 350 students. The following year the College exceeded those numbers with an incoming class of 460 students, its largest incoming class on record at that time. In Fall of 2021, the College experienced enrollment gains by welcoming 530 students, a 15% improvement over the previous year’s record-breaking class. This fall, 1,224 students were enrolled as full-time undergraduates at the College, marking the single highest enrollment in a decade.
As a faculty member, Sands Wise co-directed the Christian Scholars Program for several years, and as VP of Enrollment he has worked with Dr. Allen and the faculty to develop several new Programs of Distinction. Over the past six years, with the support of Dr. Allen and Sands Wise, faculty have started Science Honors and Independent Honors, Health Scholars, Allied Health Scholars, the Pre-Law Program, the Maskrafters Academy for Theatre and Film, and the Prototype Program for the Arts. These Programs provide students with exceptional experiences that prepare them for graduate work and for success in their future careers.
Sands Wise lives in Georgetown with Elizabeth, his wife, and two school-aged daughters. Active in the local community, he has been both vice-president and president of the board for Elizabeth’s Village in Georgetown and was chair of facilities in charge of all renovations at Elizabeth Place. He also has been a board member and officer for the Quest Farm board. Sands Wise attends Faith Baptist Church, where he has served as deacon, taught the college Sunday School class, and regularly sings in the choir.
A native of Harmony, Pennsylvania, Sands Wise received his Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Houghton College in New York. He completed his graduate and post-graduate work at Baylor University, where he earned his Master’s and Ph.D., both in philosophy.
