Meet the Provost

Rudolph G. Buchheit, PhD, joined the University of Cincinnati (UC) as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost on June 1, 2026.

As UC’s chief academic officer, Buchheit oversees academic operations, including the university’s 15 academic colleges, UC Online and a collection of state-of-the-art university libraries, while helping advance strategic priorities in teaching, research and student success.

Buchheit comes to UC from the University of Kentucky (UK), where he served as dean of the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering since 2018. In that role, he led a comprehensive academic and administrative portfolio that included faculty affairs, academic programs, research and graduate education, budget and facilities, as well as advancement and external partnerships. During his tenure as dean, the College of Engineering launched multiple new undergraduate and graduate degree programs aligned with emerging societal and workforce needs, expanded experiential learning opportunities, developed new industry partnerships, and strengthened retention, graduation and post-graduation outcomes.

Prior to UK, Buchheit held leadership roles at The Ohio State University, where he served as associate dean for academic affairs and administration in the College of Engineering and earlier as chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Before joining Ohio State, Buchheit was a senior member of the technical staff in the Materials and Process Sciences Directorate at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.

Buchheit is an internationally recognized scholar in corrosion metallurgy and electrochemistry. He is a fellow of NACE International and a fellow of The Electrochemical Society. He has served on the editorial board of Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology and as an ABET program evaluator for materials-oriented programs. He is also a past chair of the University Materials Council.

Buchheit earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Loyola University Maryland and both a master’s degree and doctorate in materials science from the University of Virginia.