Dr. Neil MacKinnon has worn many hats in his lifetime: researcher, professor and dean, just to name a few. But one of his favorite roles is behind the scenes as a “dance dad,” watching his teenage daughters compete in Scottish highland dance and taking pictures, he said.
MacKinnon, the new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Augusta University, took office on Jan. 19. He replaces Dr. Gretchen Caughman who retired in August after 35 years with the institution.
While some people may not be familiar with the title “provost,” MacKinnon said every college has a provost, but “they might not all call it that.”
MacKinnon defined a provost as a university’s “chief academic officer.” That means one of his primary responsibilities is to provide leadership to AU’s 10 academic colleges and schools, which include the Hull College of Business, the College of Nursing and the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences.
MacKinnon described his new role as a super provost position. “Not that I have super-powers,” but the job has many responsibilities, he said.
For example, MacKinnon also oversees the university’s research enterprise and the Division of Enrollment and Student Affairs, which includes many student services offices such as admissions, financial aid and student life and engagement. MacKinnon also sits on the Board of Directors of the AU Health System, he said.
MacKinnon said some of the major projects he’ll tackle in this role are increasing the university’s research funding and boosting student enrollment. Dr. Brooks Keel, president of AU, has set a goal to increase enrollment from about 9,500 students to 16,000 students by 2030, MacKinnon said. To help achieve Keel’s goal, he plans to focus his attention on recruitment, retention and the four-year graduation rate, he added.
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MacKinnon is no novice to navigating the challenges of higher education administration. Prior to accepting the provost position, MacKinnon served as dean of the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati for more than seven years. Before that, MacKinnon served as director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of Arizona and worked to eliminate health disparities for the state’s rural population, he said.
As dean, MacKinnon promoted diversity and inclusion within the college, contributed to the development of new programs and “I launched a $34 million building project,” he said.
He recently moved from Cincinnati to Martinez with his wife of 21 years, Leanne, and daughters Breagh, who is about to turn 17, and 15-year-old identical twins Ashlynn and Kaylee. The family is enjoying the balmier weather and Southern hospitality, MacKinnon said.
He added that his family has already discovered Frog & the Hen, a restaurant that specializes in Southern comfort food on Flowing Wells Road, as well as Savannah Rapids Park.
While packing up and moving the family to a new city over 500 miles away hasn’t been easy, “Everything has been really positive,” Mrs. MacKinnon said. “It’s an amazing area to live.”
The couple met in a Sunday school class for graduate students that MacKinnon led at a church in Gainesville, Fla., she said. At that time, both were enrolled at the University of Florida. She was completing her master’s degree in occupational therapy, while he was working on his Ph.D. in pharmacy health care administration.
Mrs. MacKinnon admires many things about her husband.
“I think number one would be his honesty and integrity,” she said. “He’s such an honest person and a great guy.”
She also praised his intellectual abilities. MacKinnon can speak intelligently about a wide range of topics and use evidence to support his views, she added.
“He’s able to work through things,” she said.
With a demanding career and active family life, MacKinnon strives to maintain a positive work-life balance. While he admitted he isn’t always perfect at separating the two, MacKinnon said he understands why it’s so important. MacKinnon said he’s seen former colleagues focus so much attention on their careers that their personal lives suffered.
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“You can have a great job, but if your marriage falls apart, is it really worth it?” MacKinnon said.
He said spending uninterrupted time together is important to the family. The MacKinnons have a rule that no cell phones are allowed at the dinner table. Both MacKinnon and his wife said they have a close-knit family that’s spent a great deal of time traveling together.
“We’ve traveled all over North America for dance competitions,” he said.
The family has even visited Scotland for a dance competition, MacKinnon said.
McKinnon grew up in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, which is Latin for “New Scotland,” MacKinnon said. Nova Scotia lies across the Atlantic Ocean from Maine. MacKinnon said he currently has dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship and became an American citizen in 2018, but he first moved to the U.S. when he was 22 to pursue his master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin.
He earned his bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and later taught at the university. MacKinnon also co-wrote a best-selling book called “Take as Directed: Your Prescription for Safe Health Care in Canada.”
Because of his Scottish heritage, MacKinnon often wears a kilt, but added, “I don’t play the bagpipes.”
Becoming a U.S. citizen was a major milestone for MacKinnon because “I came here by choice,” he said.
MacKinnon had little difficulty assimilating to life in the U.S. because the two countries have so much in common.
“They share a border and are culturally similar,” MacKinnon said.
Because Augusta University has undergone a few name changes in recent years, he said he wasn’t familiar with Augusta University until he saw the job advertisement. But as a higher education administrator, MacKinnon had heard of the Medical College of Georgia.
“The more I read about the university, the more I was impressed,” he said.
Despite all of his responsibilities, MacKinnon said he still plans to be visible to students, faculty and staff by interacting with them as much as possible. MacKinnon plans to serve as a guest lecturer in various classes throughout the university and conduct research in MCG’s Department of Population Health Sciences. MacKinnon said he’s also busy touring each of the university’s academic colleges.
“I don’t want the first time students see me to be at commencement,” MacKinnon said.
Because the provost oversees so many offices and departments at AU, he will have a major influence on the academic experience of the university’s students, MacKinnon said.
In this position, you have the “ability to impact the lives of thousands of students,” he said.
Josh Heath is a correspondent for The Augusta Press. Reach him at producers@theaugustapress.com
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