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CORVALLIS - Timothy P. White, dean of the College of Health and Human Performance at Oregon State University, has been named interim provost and executive vice president at OSU.

Roy Arnold, who has been the OSU provost for the last eight years, recently announced his resignation from that position to return to the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State, where he previously had served as dean. Arnold will become the executive associate dean of the college.

White will begin his duties as interim provost and executive vice president on Jan. 17, 2000. In that position, he will serve as the university's chief academic administrator, responsible for all of the academic administrative appointments and final decisions on faculty promotion and tenure.

The position is analogous to that of a senior vice president or chief operating officer, says OSU President Paul Risser. Among the duties is acting for the president during Risser's absence.

"Roy Arnold has served OSU in an exemplary manner for the past eight years and the university - and all of us personally - have benefited from his outstanding leadership," Risser said. "I have full confidence that Tim White will continue that trend, duplicating the enthusiasm and leadership he has brought to the College of Health and Human Performance."

White, 50, has been dean of the college since Jan. 1, 1996. He came to OSU from the University of California-Berkeley, where he was professor and chair of the Department of Human Biodynamics. He also was on the faculty at the University of Michigan from 1978 to 1991.

An internationally recognized scientist and educator in the exercise sciences, White's research has focused on the molecular and cellular basis of skeletal muscle adaptations to stress. White was president of the American College of Sports Medicine, which honored him last year with its Citation Award for research. He is president of AAKPE, a national honorary academy in his field.

He is a 1970 graduate of California State University-Fresno, which honored him in 1997 with its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award. White also has a master's degree from California State University-Hayward, and a Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley.

Risser said he hopes the university will have completed its search for a permanent provost by July 1.