About Dr. Steven D. House
Dr. Steven D. House, Executive Vice President
Steven D. House is the university’s chief operations officer (COO) and chief academic officer (CAO). He was promoted to Provost and Executive Vice President on June 1, 2015 having served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs since June 1, 2009.
As Provost and Executive Vice President, House is responsible for all academic programs, including Elon’s six schools/college and the library. House worked closely with faculty to develop Elon’s successful application to shelter a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at the university in April 2010. He served on the planning committee that created the Elon Commitment strategic plan, and also oversaw the American Bar Association accreditation process for Elon University School of Law. He oversaw creation of Elon’s School of Health Sciences, including the formation of the newly accredited Masters in Physician Assistant Studies program. He chairs Elon’s long-range planning committee and the university’s budget committee, developing budget models and presenting options to the board of trustees.
House also provides leadership for Student Life, working with Vice President Jon Dooley; Admissions and Financial Planning, working with Vice President Greg Zaiser; and Athletics, working with Director of Athletics Dave Blank. President Leo M. Lambert has stated that House’s responsibilities reflect his outstanding record of accomplishment in the Office of the Provost and in his previous position as dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. President Lambert also noted that House is a gifted administrator and has been an integral part of developing the university’s national reputation since coming to Elon from Seton Hall University in 2001, when he was named the founding dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences.
In his eight years as the dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, House provided leadership for 17 academic departments and 19 academic programs. The number of Elon College faculty increased by 50 percent during his tenure as dean, and the number of students majoring in the liberal arts grew from 37 percent of the overall student body to just over 50%. House helped develop the Elon College Fellows Program and collaborated with the Division of Student Life to expand Elon’s living-learning communities, including serving as advisor to the Elon College Fellows Living Learning Community and instructor for these students’ first year seminar course.
House earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1977 from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He completed his doctorate in physiology with honors at the University of Arizona. He attended Columbia University as a postdoctoral fellow in physiology and cellular biophysics and served as an associate research scientist. House joined Seton Hall University in New Jersey in 1987, teaching courses in biology, physiology, pharmacology and anatomy. He was named director of health professions in 1994 and associate dean of Seton Hall’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1997.
House has received awards for outstanding teaching, service, and scholarship, including the Elon College Faculty Excellence Award. He has authored numerous articles and presentations on blood flow regulation during health and disease. He received several prestigious research awards, including a major National Institute of Health research award on microvascular cell dynamics, a visiting expert award from the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, Republic of China, and both the Grega-Zacharkow Young Investigator Award and the Travel Award for Outstanding Young Investigators from the Microcirculatory Society.
House is a member of several professional societies, including American Physiological Society and serves as a reviewer for the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Omicron Delta Kappa national honor societies.
House is married to Patricia Burgh House. The other Dr. House, as she is known, has a doctorate in higher education and is a senior vice president with Graham-Pelton Consulting.