Dustin Anderson
Provost, Executive Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer
Provost and Executive Vice President, Office of the
Biography
Dr. Dustin Anderson became Columbus State’s current provost, executive vice president and chief academic officer in July 2025, joining the university from Georgia Southern University, where he was associate provost for student success & academic programs.As a senior university leader and member of the president’s Executive Leadership Team, Dr. Anderson leads the university’s academic enterprise, overseeing a total Academic Affairs budget of more than $54 million and a team of more than 450 faculty and staff. This includes the academic colleges and deans, research, outreach and faculty development centers, and affiliated administrative units. He is responsible for the academic priorities outlined in the university’s five-year strategic plan, adopted in 2024 91º£½ÇÂÒÂ×.
Dr. Anderson has spent most of his higher education career at Georgia Southern University, where for 15 years he taught, directed graduate programs and led in the Office of the Provost. Prior to Georgia Southern, he taught at Florida State University, where he also held an administrative appointment for first-year writing.
At Georgia Southern, he has helped lead diverse efforts involving strategic enrollment, new-student orientation, career-readiness across the curriculum, and reaccreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. He is a past Faculty Senate president and a University System of Georgia Executive Leadership Institute Scholar.
Dr. Anderson’s teaching and research focus on memory and neuropathies as they materialize in language. He has published on cultural artefacts ranging from traditional literary works (Beckett, Joyce, and Cormac McCarthy) to more broadly accessible popular artefacts, such as non-linear sandbox-style video games. He holds a bachelor’s in English literature from Carson-Newman College and both a master’s and doctoral degree in English from Florida State.