DeAngela Burns-Wallace, assistant vice provost for undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri, will be Kansas University’s next vice provost for undergraduate studies, KU announced Monday.

The vice provost for undergraduate studies is responsible for retention and graduation efforts at KU’s Lawrence and Edwards campuses, as well as helping manage the KU Core curriculum.

Burns-Wallace, a Kansas City, Mo., native, will start at KU early in the spring semester, according to the university. She also will have a faculty courtesy appointment in KU’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the School of Education.

Burns-Wallace will replace Ann Cudd, who left KU in June to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University.

Burns-Wallace is not entirely new to KU; she was at the university as an American Council on Education Emerging Leaders Fellow during the 2013-2014 school year.

DeAngela Burns-Wallace

KU senior vice provost for academic affairs Sara Rosen, in KU’s news release, described Burns-Wallace as a passionate, knowledgeable and vibrant educator and administrator.

“Our goal to increase student academic success, progression and graduation requires insight, focus and a keen understanding of the challenges students face,” Rosen said. “Her leadership, distinctive background and international experience make her an extraordinary choice for this pivotal position at KU.”

Previously, Burns-Wallace was assistant vice provost and director of access initiatives for enrollment management at MU and assistant dean of undergraduate admissions at Stanford University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree. She received a master’s of public affairs from Princeton University and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Burns-Wallace also worked for the U.S. Department of State as a foreign service officer in positions based in Pretoria, South Africa; Beijing, and Guangzhou, China, and Washington, D.C.

“The mission of the Office of Undergraduate Studies is to advocate for and strategically advance undergraduate education at the University of Kansas,” Burns-Wallace said in KU’s news release. “I love that ‘advocate’ is at the heart of the mission … Supporting every student’s pursuit of learning, every student’s evolution of self, every student’s overall success is a humbling and exciting opportunity.”