EDWARDSVILLE – For Dr. Randall Pembrook, the new chancellor for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, the return here takes him back to both his childhood and college roots.
“I grew up in Greenfield, Illinois,” he told local media recently in an interview. “I lived there for the first 20 years of my life and I have been on the road since. I spent seven years in the Topeka, Kansas area and some 30 years away before coming home to my alma mater. I want to make SIUE the best place it can possibly be and make some wonderful connections to the towns and people I know.”
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Pembrook name is a big one around Greenfield and Greene County circles, with the family all being athletic and bright.
Steve Pembrook, his brother, and a well-known accountant with Scheffel and Boyle in Alton, said this about his brother: “I am certainly excited for his opportunity. He is probably just as excited to come back and be close to home again. Based on his experience and what he intends to accomplish, things should bode well for him. He has been in Kansas for a number of years. He makes his way home frequently and still has a good feel for the area and considers this home. I am glad to have him back for personal reasons.”
Randall Pembrook is definitely a country boy in nature, who lives for the outdoors and hunting. He has come back year after year while away to hunt with his family; now it is just a few miles away to make a local hunting expedition in Greene County.
“As I told the search committee, one of the things I want to do is make SIUE the best lift can possibly be for the faculty, staff and students,” he said of his return to SIUE, his alma mater.
Pembrook said it is his desire as chancellor to feel he is helping meet the needs of the people he grew up with and to have a wonderful connection to those towns.
Pembrook is the ninth chancellor in Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville history. The search in Edwardsville started with 65 candidates before Pembrook was chosen at the end.
Pembrook has served as the vice president for academic affairs at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, since January 2011. He has been the chief academic officer at Washburn working with faculty, staff, students and administrators from the College of Arts and Sciences, Schools of Applied Studies, Business, Law, and Nursing, the Washburn Institute of Technology, Mabee Library/Student Success Center and Academic Outreach.
The new chancellor said SIUE has to continue to evolve with the changing needs of the community and make sure the university provides the right format for those experiences. It has been several years since Dr. Pembrook has spent time on the SIUE campus and said it has changed in remarkable ways with many new campus buildings and a significant growth in off-campus housing. The state’s bleak financial picture has made it extremely difficult for colleges and he said he knows that is something he and all college administrators will have to address.
“I think it is a really important to make sure people have access to higher education,” he added. “I know from my own personal experience of growing up on a farm how important it is to have that access.”
Asked what he would do in his first 100 days on campus and he said he would balance meetings on and off campus to get to know the challenges for the university and get to know the people affiliated inside and outside SIUE confines.
Pembrook was a transfer student from Lewis and Clark Community College to SIUE in the beginning of his academic career, so he understands the importance of working with junior college transfers. He wants to continue to build the relationship SIUE has established with LCCC and other community colleges.
“SIUE has a wonderful tradition of liberal arts with graduates in traditional programs and has continued to grow alternative formats for students,” he said.
The new chancellor said community advisory boards can be very important in helping a university develop its curriculum.
“I have been working professionally full time in higher education for over three decades,” Pembrook said. “I have done everything from be a staff and faculty member to be a vice chancellor and now chancellor. I have worn quite a few hats. When people talk about job frustrations, I have lived through a lot of those experiences. I think it is important getting to know people where they feel a level of comfort and trust and with that you can do exciting and amazing things.”
Asked what he enjoys doing in his free time and he said he loves golf and growing up in rural Illinois, he will likely spend a lot of time hunting and with his family.
“I also love to do crossword puzzles,” he said. “I used to go to Colorado and ski, so I enjoy doing that, too.”
Most of all, Pembrook told the media group that he is happy to be back where he originally attended college and near Greenfield.
“I am incredibly excited to come home,” he said. Pembrook’s family and friends would probably echo that sentiment.
More like this:
