Montplaisir Named Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Lisa Montplaisir, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, has been named interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She steps into the role Aug. 27, 2026.

Montplaisir, a three-time NDSU graduate, joined the faculty in 1995. Her career bridges disciplinary science, teaching practice, and higher education leadership. She earned her doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona in 2003 and has held a joint appointment in biological sciences and the School of Education for most of her time at NDSU. Her research, supported by the National Science Foundation, focuses on instructional strategies, curriculum design, and faculty development in STEM education, and her classroom practice is built on transparency about expectations and active student engagement. She has served as president of the Faculty Senate, as a member of the President's Cabinet, and as the faculty representative to the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education. In 2025, she received the Blue Key Doctor of Service Award.

As interim dean, Montplaisir will lead the college and oversee its academic programs, faculty and staff, budget, and daily operations. Her charge is to sustain the college's strengths, support its people, and provide stable, effective leadership while a national search for the next permanent dean moves forward.

Montplaisir, who succeeds Dr. Kimberly Wallin, assumes the authority and responsibilities of dean in the interim effective Aug. 27. Wallin will remain engaged in a consulting capacity for Montplaisir, as she returns to the faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Wallin came to NDSU in 2019 as dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, arriving from the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, where she served as associate dean of research and graduate programs. She led the college through NDSU Transform, which merged the College of Science and Mathematics with the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences to create the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest and most academically diverse college on campus. Wallin was also instrumental in the creation of the University Honors College, which welcomed its first cohort of students this fall.

"We are grateful to Kimberly Wallin for her service to NDSU," said Provost Shari Veil. "Her leadership of the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Arts and Sciences has been transformational for the university."

NDSU has engaged Academic Search, a national executive search firm serving higher education, to support the search for a permanent dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Kathryn Birkeland, Ronald G. and Kaye S. Olson Dean of the College of Business, will chair the search committee. Invitations to serve on the committee are being issued this week, and the university expects to launch the national search this fall.