Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Niaz Latif
Office & Phone
Hammond: Lawshe Hall (LAWS) 346
Westville: Schwarz Hall (SWRZ) 150
Phone: 219-989-2446
Email: nlatif@pnw.edu
About Niaz Latif
In addition to serving as Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Niaz Latif is the associate vice chancellor for Commercialization and Research and executive director of the Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center (CMEC). In his combined role, he oversees the Office of Institutional Research, Center for Faculty Excellence, and the Office of Academic and Student Success.
Since joining PNW in 2007, Latif has been responsible for bringing in a combined $15 million in grants from internal and external sources, including major grants from the National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Department of Labor.
As a PI and Co-PI, Latif has received a total of $5 million in federal grants. In addition, he raised more than $4 million in private gifts from donors to establish new laboratories and centers, including: the David Roberts Center for Innovation and Design; CMEC; the future Roberts Impact Lab; labs for the Construction Engineering and Management Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Mechatronics Engineering Technology programs.
Under Latif’s leadership as dean, the College of Technology was recognized as the Best University for a Technology Degree by Northwest Indiana Business magazine for 14 consecutive years. During his tenure the college added five degree programs, notably including the Doctor of Technology (DTech) and BS in Cybersecurity, recruited an increasingly diverse student population, and increased retention.
He has twice held additional leadership roles while serving concurrently as dean of Technology: interim associate vice chancellor of Research and Graduate Studies (2008-2012) and interim dean of the College of Engineering and Sciences (2020-2021). He also served as PNW’s interim provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs in 2019-2020.
Latif has been a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) since 2018. He has been recognized by his alma mater, South Dakota State University, as a Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Engineer and received the Frederick J. Berger Award for programmatic and individual excellence in engineering technology education from ASEE. He is a past honoree as Outstanding Administrative Leader of PNW.