Angela Pool-Funai
Angela Pool-Funai, the assistant provost for academic programs and dean of the Graduate
School and Office of Research at Fort Hays State University, has been selected to
lead the University of Wyoming’s branch campus in Casper.
The appointment, effective Monday, Aug. 3, was approved this week by the UW Board
of Trustees.
“We’re excited that a seasoned higher education leader with a wealth of pertinent
experience will be the dean of the University of Wyoming at Casper,” says UW Interim
Provost Anne Alexander. “We’re confident Dr. Pool-Funai will connect well with the
community and build on the 50-year history of the university’s strong presence in
Wyoming’s second-largest city.”
Pool-Funai holds a bachelor’s degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, a master’s
degree from Baylor University and a doctoral degree from Valdosta State University.
Before joining Fort Hays State in 2021, she was the director of the Master of Public
Administration Program at Southern Utah University, where she also served as interim
associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Her career also has included administrative roles at Baylor and Richland College in
Texas.
She has demonstrated commitment to academic excellence through graduate and undergraduate
instruction in public administration, sociology, political science and experiential
learning, with multiple teaching awards during her time at Fort Hays State and Southern
Utah University.
Since UW opened its first outreach program in Casper in the summer of 1976, the program has grown to 15 undergraduate and multiple graduate programs. UW-Casper operates out of the Casper College Student Union/University of Wyoming Building, under a strong partnership with Casper College.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.