Rita Cheng has served as Provost at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since April 2005. She is the ninth person and second woman to serve as the provost of UWM since the university was established in 1956.

Rita joined UWM in 1988 as an assistant professor of accounting in the School of Business Administration. Within the School of Business Administration, she held the title the A.O. Smith Professor of Accounting first as an associate professor from 1994 to 2002 and then as a professor from 2002 to 2004. She also served as Special Assistant to the School of Business Dean for Affirmative Action from 1994 to 2003.

Rita has served the university in several high-level administrative capacities in recent years. She was the Interim Dean of the School of Continuing Education in 2004 and 2005, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs from 2002 to 2005, and Associate Dean of the School of Business Administration from 1998 to 2003. While in these roles, she led both the campus Higher Learning Commission and the Business School's AACSB re-accreditation efforts.

Rita's research focuses on nonprofit and governmental accountability. She has published numerous journal articles and technical reports. Recent articles have assessed government performance reporting, government accounting choice models, nonprofit financial performance, and the influence of accounting regulation on corporate business competitiveness. Her internationally recognized research and leadership in the academic accounting field have directly influenced today's national standards. She is a co-author of a leading accounting textbook and is a Wisconsin Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

Her Ph.D. is from the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University (major in accounting and minor in public administration). She earned her MBA degree from the University of Rhode Island and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with honours from Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec.

The role of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is primarily that of the chief academic officer of the campus. As such, Rita Cheng is responsible for advancing academic and scholarly life of the campus.

The Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is responsible for the vision, environment and incentives that lead to student success and to faculty and staff excellence.

In close collaboration with faculty and staff the Provost works to develop and implement academic policy, foster new academic programs, monitor programmatic effectiveness, identify and establish academic priorities and collaborate with university leadership and statewide higher education administration to advance campus concerns.

She supervises the recruitment and appointment of faculty and staff. Further at the campus level she has the responsibility for the processes and programs of faculty and staff development. She supervises the promotion and tenure process for faculty and indefinite status appointment process for academic staff at the campus level. The emeritus and sabbatical processes are also her responsibilities.

Through the Graduate School the Provost fosters scholarship on campus through the dissemination of information about research opportunities and by assisting faculty and staff in advancing their research agendas and securing external funding.

The ten degree granting colleges plus the Graduate School and the School of Continuing Education report to the Provost.

Units supporting faculty and scholarship are directed by the Provost, including the library and technology functions. Additionally, the Roberto Hernandez Center is a direct report and the Provost also has oversight of international activities on campus.

In her role as Provost, she is the chief operating officer of the campus, responsible for prioritizing resource needs, securing resources for campus programs, and allocating resources to units. The P/VCAA supervises the budgets of all academic units. Subject to collaboration with administrators, faculty, staff, and governance units, the Provost allocates and reallocates financial resources. Additionally, she is tasked with the assignment and management of space.

To advance the strength, satisfaction, and productivity of all campus employees, Human Resources and Equity/Diversity Services also report to the P/VCAA.

The Provost also serves as the deputy to the Chancellor, acting in his stead as directed and when he is unavailable.