Texas Tech University - Costa Rica, Campus Dean

Paul Vita, PhD

We are pleased to announce that Paul Vita has been named the new dean of Texas Tech University – Costa Rica, effective September 1.

Vita previously served as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at The American University of Nigeria, where he helped establish a new school of medicine and infectious disease laboratory and led the charge to revise the university’s core academic policies. He also helped the university gain accreditation for six new graduate programs, developed data-driven enrollment growth strategies, and secured externally funded scholarships from Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

Most analogous to his new role, Vita previously led Saint Louis University’s branch campus in Madrid, Spain, where he served for over a decade as Vice President, Director, and Academic Dean, stewarding enrollment growth, expanding academic offerings, strengthening international partnerships, and ensuring accreditation both in Spain and the U.S.

Vita has had a long and distinguished career in academia both in the U.S. and abroad. He has held international positions in Nigeria and Spain as well as at Columbia University in New York, Morningside College (now University) in Iowa and the Woodberry Forest School in Virginia.

As dean of Texas Tech-Costa Rica, Vita will be charged with helping prepare students to become visionary leaders shaping a better future on a global stage. Texas Tech-Costa Rica provides a lower-cost educational option for students closer to home instead of having to relocate to the U.S. Costa Rican students study and perform research in subjects of local interest such as manufacturing, research and development, and services.

Vita earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University and two master’s degrees and his doctorate from Columbia University.

Read the full press release here.

Sean Farrell led this search with Ivan Ceballos and Drew Chang.