Provost Salma Ghanem joined DePaul in 2014 as dean of the College of Communication. (Jeff Carrion/DePaul University)After serving in leadership roles at DePaul University for more than 10 years, Provost
Salma Ghanem will step down from her role at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
“Serving the university in this capacity is an honor. DePaul is a university with a heart that gives me meaning and purpose every day I come to work,” Ghanem says. “Announcing that I will be stepping down a year in advance will provide the opportunity for a smooth transition. I look forward to serving in this role for another year and working with the outstanding faculty, students and staff who make this university community so wonderful.”
Ghanem joined DePaul in 2014 as dean of the College of Communication. She became provost in May 2021, after serving as interim provost beginning in July 2019 and acting provost beginning in October 2018.
“Salma has led with clarity, compassion, and a deep commitment to DePaul’s mission,” said President Robert L. Manuel. “Through times of both challenge and transformation, her leadership has helped shape a strong academic foundation for the university’s future. I am grateful for her partnership and look forward to working alongside her in the year ahead as we prepare for a thoughtful and successful transition.”
Prior to joining DePaul, Ghanem served as dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Central Michigan University. She also taught and served as chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Texas Pan American.
Before her academic career, Ghanem served as a press and information officer for the Press Office of the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations in New York and as a communication specialist with the clinical teaching campus of Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.
She has received multiple awards for research and teaching and has published and presented nationally and internationally. Her publication record includes political communication with particular emphasis on the first and second level of agenda setting and framing. She is the founding editor of the Agenda Setting Journal. She also published and presented research on international media coverage, intercultural communication, and advertising in the Middle East.
DePaul will launch a national search for the next provost, with more details to be shared at a later date.