Beirut: When Dr. Gregory L. Heileman talks about why he became LAU's new Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, he does not delve into a strategic plan. He starts with people and impact.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, reflecting on a career that has taken him from the classroom to the research lab, and on to the highest levels of academic administration, Dr. Heileman believes that the thread that runs through all of these roles is students. "My vision for academic leadership is serving our students best by creating an outstanding institution that has value for them while they're here, but also when they leave."
Dr. Heileman assumed his role on September 1, 2026, arriving at LAU with more than two decades of academic leadership experience. Most recently, he served as vice provost for Academic Affairs and a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he oversaw undergraduate education and academic affairs since 2019. Before that, he held vice provost and associate provost roles at the University of New Mexico, where he helped drive record retention and graduation rates, and at the University of Kentucky, where he served as the university's chief Student Affairs officer.
At LAU, Dr. Heileman is responsible for elevating research productivity and advancing interdisciplinary initiatives by leading faculty recruitment and development, and steering a digital transformation that integrates AI into learning and research. Asked why he chose LAU at this point in his career, Dr. Heileman expressed his hope to finish his career at an institution where he could have an impact.
Dr. Heileman emphasized that LAU is a place where strategies about building a global brand and moving the institution forward make it a unique opportunity for him to have a larger impact. He also pointed to LAU's Board of Trustees as a decisive factor, highlighting the support they provide to the university as creating the conditions for positive change.
From an academic standpoint, Dr. Heileman believes that interdisciplinary research is the future, arguing that the era of the single-domain expert has passed. He stated that one's ability to communicate with someone who has domain knowledge in a different area and putting them together to solve a problem is critical in today's environment.
On AI and the future of teaching, Dr. Heileman rejects the framing of AI as a classroom disruptor. He noted that students arriving on campus over the next few years would have never known a world without it, and for them, it's infrastructure, like turning on a light. The real challenge, he argued, falls on faculty who constantly have to change how they teach. Integrating AI in the curriculum and using it to sharpen LAU's operations will be the answer, in his view.
Dr. Heileman is equally direct about experiential learning, affirming that it has to be embedded in the curriculum. He advocates for tracking high-impact practices such as study abroad, research experience, entrepreneurial ventures, and volunteerism as seriously as GPA. This approach is part of identifying the culture at LAU and in Lebanon more broadly as "distinctly entrepreneurial," and Dr. Heileman sees an opportunity to connect students more directly to mentors, the industry, and networks that turn a class project into a startup.