New to RMU: Joseph Zimmer

 New to RMU: Joseph Zimmer

Written by Ashley Imhoff, Clarence Fields, and Reese Smith; edited by Dr. Cathleen Jones

Meet Dr. Joseph Zimmer! RMU's new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. In this position, Zimmer is the Chief Academic Officer, and second in line to President Patrick. He is responsible for everything regarding teaching and learning. This includes all the schools, deans, faculty, library, student support, solution central, student life, and housing.

 

Dr. Zimmer is originally from Buffalo, New York, and studied at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in teacher education, a master’s in English Education, and his doctorate in Reading Education. One of his favorite genres to read is history. Since being a Buffalo native, he is a devoted Buffalo Bills fan and has followed the team since the 1960s. 

Before arriving at RMU in June, he served many roles at St. Bonaventure University in New York, most recently including Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Interim President. While at St. Bonaventure, he enhanced their academic programs and added 25 new majors to the University. Throughout his 31-year career at St. Bonaventure, he had many accomplishments and felt he reached his full potential and was looking for something new, leading him to RMU. Zimmer chose RMU because of its reputation, academics, and faculty. He emphasized the importance of a college education not being a transactional experience and admires how the faculty truly cares about their students succeeding inside and outside the classroom. One of Dr. Zimmer's favorite parts of the job is commencement day. He enjoys seeing all of the components of his job tie together through the success of the students graduating and heading onto their desired career paths.

 

 Outside of work, Zimmer enjoys watching movies in his spare time and considers himself a film buff. He noted that it's easy to do in between work and he is interested in the characters and actors playing the roles. Some of his favorites include Casablanca and Field of Dreams. He also appreciates the art of classic black-and-white films.

He also has a profound interest in music. Back in high school, he developed an interest in music and is proficient in playing the saxophone, clarinet, and flute. One of his first teaching jobs was giving music lessons. He has participated in playing in local jazz bands, wedding receptions, community bands, and orchestras for musicals. He hopes to continue that interest here in Pittsburgh and even joked he might make an appearance in the RMU band! 

Since moving to Pittsburgh, he has loved the culture and how homey, safe, and comfortable it feels. He and his wife enjoy trying out the restaurants and the variety of food the area has to offer. Some of his favorites are Downey’s House and Mission BBQ in Robinson Township. As mentioned previously, Dr. Zimmer is originally from Buffalo and likes being able to visit his family frequently since Buffalo is only a few hours north of Pittsburgh. He is a father to four children and grandfather to four, soon to be five, with one on the way.

 

Since obtaining this position, one of his goals for RMU is to get the academic affairs within the University stable and moving forward. With his experience adding new programs and majors at St. Bonaventure, he is interested in creating more opportunities for new and prospective students.