JOSEPH A. CHAPMAN
President

Joseph A. Chapman took over his duties as North Dakota State University’s 13th president in June 1999. Noted for his ability to coordinate collaborative efforts and his commitment to enhance and integrate research programs, Chapman has guided the university to its current "Research Universities (high research activity)" ranking in the Carnegie Foundation’s classification system.

According to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Chapman’s tenure at NDSU has been distinguished by a record of unprecedented successes in research, student life, curriculum, faculty pay and Division I sports.

Under Chapman’s leadership, research expenditures exceed $100 million. This more than doubles the amount spent in 1999 when Chapman came to NDSU, and makes NDSU the largest research enterprise in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. He sought partnerships from the private sector to enable expansion of NDSU’s Research and Technology Park--partnerships that almost immediately generated results.

In addition, Chapman’s goal of 12,000 enrolled students was met in fall 2005, and doctoral degree programs have increased from 18 in 1999 to 38 in 2005.

He is the recipient of the 2006 North Dakota Chamber of Commerce Greater North Dakotan Award, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators prestigious national President’s Award in 2005.

Before coming to NDSU, Chapman served as senior vice president and provost at Montana State University, Bozeman, where he also served as a professor of biology. Among his responsibilities were a wide array of statewide initiatives, including a system of academic and outreach programs at Montana’s two-year and four-year campuses. Prior to joining Montana State in 1996, he was dean of the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University. From 1969 to 1983, he worked at the University of Maryland, College Park, advancing to head the Appalachian Environmental Laboratory. He also was a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1965 to 1967.

Chapman earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctorate from Oregon State University, Corvallis. He lists 11 books and editorships, eight monographs, 31 book chapters and symposia proceedings, 67 journal publications and more than 100 reports and popular articles.

Active in a number of organizations in the Fargo-Moorhead area, Chapman is a member of the boards of directors of US Bank, Fargo/Cass County Economic Development Corp., NDSU Alumni Association and the NDSU Research and Technology Park. He also is a trustee of the NDSU Development Foundation.

Chapman is a fellow of the Explorer’s Club and the Institute of Biology, London. He is a member of the Wildlife Society, American Society of Mammalogists and American Philatelic Society. He also is an honorary member of the Species Survival Commission, which has headquarters in Switzerland. In 2000, he was invited to join the Cosmos Club, a private social club founded in 1878 Washington D.C., and dedicated to science, literature and art.

Joseph and Gale Chapman have two daughters, Valerie and Jennifer.

President Chapman's Biography - PDF Version