# Pamela Whitten

Pamela S. Whitten is an American academic administrator and telemedicine specialist. She is currently the 19th president of Indiana University and is the first female president in the university's history. She previously was the 5th president of Kennesaw State University and served on the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics.

## Early life and education

Pamela Whitten grew up in Tennessee. She lived in Brentwood and Memphis before her family moved when she was 14.
Whitten earned her bachelor's degree in management from Tulane University School of Business in 1985, her master's degree in organizational communication from the University of Kentucky in 1986 and her PhD in communication studies from the University of Kansas in 1996.

## Career

Whitten is a telemedicine specialist. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and two books about the subject.
After receiving her PhD in communication studies from University of Kansas in 1996, Whitten became an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. In 1998, she moved to Michigan State University as an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunications. She was promoted to Associate Professor and later to full Professor in 2001 and 2005 respectively.

### Academic administration and controversies

At Michigan State, Whitten was promoted to Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, and then full dean for the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State in 2006, 2007, and 2009 respectively.
She was director of telemedicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the Michigan State University dean of College of Communication Arts and Science.
Whitten was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Georgia from 2014 until 2018. She was a finalist for the position of chancellor of University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2016 and also president of the Iowa State University in 2017. In 2018, Whitten became president of Kennesaw State University. The following year, in 2019, she joined the NCAA Division I Committee on Academics.
On April 16, 2021, the Indiana University (IU) board of trustees named Whitten the 19th President-Elect of the university. This makes Whitten the first woman to ever hold the position of president at IU. Her term as IU president started on July 1, 2021. The appointment was praised by some alumni, but the search process that led to Whitten's appointment was controversial amongst some faculty.
On April 16, 2024, the Indiana University Bloomington faculty overwhelmingly passed votes of no confidence for IU President Pamela Whitten with 93.1% (827 to 29) of the vote against Whitten. In response, the Indiana University Board of Trustees reaffirmed their support for Whitten and her administration, although it was later revealed that the support was not unanimous.
On April 25, 2024, Whitten formed an ad hoc committee to change the terms of use of Indiana University Assembly Ground on the eve of pro-Palestinian protests. This policy change facilitated the arrest of students, faculty, and community members who were occupying Dunn Meadow. Legal scholars interviewed by The Herald-Times questioned whether the policy changes may have violated the First Amendment.
On January 22, 2025, The Chronicle of Higher Ed reported that Whitten's dissertation had more than three dozen instances of copied language without a source, or plagiarism. Indiana University has cleared her for this academic misconduct.