Ashland University grad named provost at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Catherine Ann (Marshall, ’94) Rudowsky’s career journey in higher education “had a wonderful start at AU.”

“I think the single greatest thing I learned is critical thinking,” said the 1994 Ashland University graduate who was recently named the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. “I also gained confidence while at AU. Like most college students, those years are an opportunity to grow and identify with yourself more as an adult than a teen. Ashland University was a great place to experience that transition and maturation.”

After leaving AU with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in political science, Rudowsky worked for a basketball agent in San Francisco, as an accounting clerk while getting her Master of Library and Information Science and at special libraries (NASA Glenn Research Center and hospital libraries) before settling on higher education.

“In special libraries, you are often part of a small team or even a solo librarian,” she said. “I craved a larger team with more opportunities, so I moved into academic libraries.”

Her career in higher education, which has included several authored or co-authored publications and earning an MBA, as well as a Ph.D. in communication media and instructional technology, has been in two places.

First, she was at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania for 10 years as the business librarian and then the library faculty chair the last few years she was there.

For the past 10 years, she has led the libraries at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and also served as the interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts for one year before her latest appointment in October.

“I had an amazing team in the library, and we built a student-centered thriving environment that is bustling,” Rudowsky said about her second higher education stop. “In that role, I had many opportunities to work collaboratively across the campus, and I am honored to now work in a broader leadership role.”

Several people at Ashland University had a profound impact on Rudowsky during her time on campus in the early 1990s, including Professor of English Russell Weaver, who has been teaching at AU since 1986.

“I remember getting back my first serious college-level paper from Dr. Russell Weaver and the encouragement I received,” Rudowsky said. “The paper was on ‘Frankenstein,’ one of my favorite books, and I was a sophomore. I was terribly nervous, and Dr. Weaver gave me wonderful feedback and encouragement. I think he saw something in me and was able to communicate that to me.

“That solidified my remaining an English major and gave me confidence,” she added. “It also serves as an example of the lasting impact faculty can have and what sets excellent faculty apart. I appreciate faculty who take the time to provide meaningful feedback; it has a huge impact on students.”

The Ashbrook Scholar who received a Presidential Scholarship to attend AU from a small town in central Pennsylvania also said one of her best memories was watching “Monty Python” with one of Weaver’s British Literature courses outside of class.

“Experiences like this help to build communities of scholars and engage students in learning outside of the classroom without them even realizing they are learning,” Rudowsky said. “Really, all of the English faculty left an impact on me in one way or another.

“The faculty I encountered at Ashland were caring and passionate, and they had a great influence on me,” she added. “Class sizes were small enough to have meaningful conversations and to build relationships with other students and with faculty.”

Rudowsky, who also credited the Writing Center staff that she worked with while she was at AU as a positive influence in her life, hopes “to have an impact that goes further” with her new position.

“It is definitely an adjustment, both in terms of responsibility and pace,” she said about being the provost and VP of Academic Affairs. “That also means it provides motivation and energy, and I am excited for the future.”

She enjoys looking back to when her journey in higher education began on the campus of Ashland University.

“Some of my best memories are just sitting around dorm lobbies chatting with the amazing life-long friends that I made,” Rudowsky said, “and dreaming about our futures.”