John Buckwalter, Ph.D., is UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. He joined Florida’s Premier Engineering and Technology University in August 2025, bringing more than 20 years of academic leadership and a strong commitment to student success, faculty support and meeting workforce needs.
As UCF’s chief academic officer, Buckwalter provides strategic leadership for impactful teaching, research, and service across 13 colleges. He supports more than 3,000 faculty members who prepare 69,000 students to excel academically and professionally. His responsibilities also include oversight of UCF’s campuses as well as collaborative management of the university’s academic operating budget.
Before joining UCF, Buckwalter served as provost at Boise State University, where he led transformative interdisciplinary initiatives and championed student-centered outcomes. He previously was dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Kansas State University, where he expanded graduate offerings, grew the college’s endowment by over 40%, secured new research facilities and launched a career-focused mentoring program. Earlier, he held leadership roles at the University of Texas at Arlington, including associate dean for research and chair of the Department of Kinesiology.
Buckwalter holds master’s and doctoral degrees in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology from the University of Arkansas. He earned two bachelor’s degrees — in Spanish and in health and physical education — from Centenary College.
His research has explored neural and cardiovascular regulation of blood flow during exercise. He is a fellow of both the American Physiological Society and the American College of Sports Medicine.