Executive Vice President & Provost

Wichita State Provost Dr. Shirley Lefever 

Wichita State University's Executive Vice President and Provost is Dr. Shirley Lefever, Ph.D.

She was appointed Interim Executive Vice President and Provost in the fall of 2020 before being selected as as full EVP and Provost in April 2022. 

Shirley Lefever was born in Burns, Kansas where her family operated a small dairy farm. She attended Burns Elementary School and later moved to El Dorado, Kansas where she graduated from El Dorado High School. Prior to her career in higher education, she was a classroom teacher, teaching in multi-grade classrooms. Her passion for developing students’ abilities led her to pursue her graduate degrees. 

Lefever received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University in 1991. Her dissertation focused on factors impacting literacy acquisition and reading comprehension.  Her master’s and bachelor’s degrees are also from Kansas State University in Curriculum and Instruction and Elementary Education respectively. As a First Generation College student, Lefever is deeply committed to making higher education both accessible and affordable to all students through a variety of strategies including paid applied learning opportunities.