the.com/provost
the academic warlord who runs the university while the president shakes hands and raises money
means A high-ranking administrative officer—chief among them the senior academic official who oversees a university's faculty, budgets, and day-to-day operations (the title also belongs to certain cathedral clergy, college heads, and Scottish mayors).
from From Latin praepositus, "one placed in front," the past participle of praeponere (prae- "before" + ponere "to place")—literally the person set out ahead to be in charge. It traveled through Old French provost into English, and the same root sprouted relatives like "preposition" (a word placed before) and the German Propst. Wherever it landed—monastery, cathedral, college, or Scottish burgh—it kept its core meaning: the one put in front to run the place.
- origin
- From Latin praepositus, meaning one placed in charge
- the wallet
- Typically controls the entire university budget
- scottish twist
- In Scotland, the title for a city mayor
- old role
- Once meant a prison or cathedral overseer
- rank
- Effectively the chief academic officer, second to president
harvard university provost — alan garber has held this position since 2011, overseeing academic affairs at harvard
oxford university provost — each of oxford's 38 colleges has a provost as head, like balliol college's provost