Giles-Klinkner named interim provost for 2023-24 academic year

Madison College President Jack Daniels announced that Dr. Beth Giles-Klinkner, associate dean of Madison College’s School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, will serve as interim provost for the 2023-24 academic year.

Giles-Klinkner will succeed current provost Dr. Turina Bakken, who will retire on June 30. Bakken has been with the college for nearly 25 years and has served in the role of provost for the past seven.

“Dr. Giles-Klinkner brings extensive academic and administrative experience to this position, and she has a demonstrated and well-respected commitment of building community partnerships,” said Madison College President Jack Daniels. “She is a strong leader and will be an excellent addition to our executive team.”

Before joining Madison College, Giles-Klinkner was the director of online academic and career advising for University of Wisconsin-Madison’s undergraduate students. Prior to this, she served as director of the education outreach and partnerships office at UW’s highly ranked School of Education where she focused on K-12 outreach efforts and building partnerships throughout the educational community. This work grew from her role as director of professional learning where she worked with education professionals across the state of Wisconsin to develop responsive and accessible professional learning tools. Before this, she was the director of the UW-Madison’s Institute for Urban Education. Giles-Klinkner is also an experienced classroom instructor and has served the state by working with teacher preparation programs at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Giles-Klinkner received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1992 and her master’s degree in 1994 from Miami University. In 2006, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in curriculum and instruction.