People who have served in the Air Force know that some things don't always go as planned. So when a veteran of the United States Air Force was asked to fill a suddenly vacated administrative post last week, it wasn't a huge dilemma.

David Shrock, acting provost and dean of the College of Business and Administration, has been asked to fill the void left by Provost Madeline Wake, as she tends to family matters. Wake's husband was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor according to an e-mail Wake sent to the Marquette community on April 6.

In the Tuesday's edition of the Marquette Tribune, Shrock said he had, "a great respect for Provost Wake and what she is doing in her leadership role in the university." Now Shrock will step into that role, for at least the remainder of the academic semester.

Shrock will handle day-to-day affairs of the provost according to Wake's e-mail, while Wake continues to consult with University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild, and Senior Vice President Gregory Kliebhan on policy making concerns.

One of Shrock's colleagues, Dean of Graduate Programs Jeanne Simmons, is very confident in Shrock's ability to handle the daily affairs he has been assigned to for the rest of the semester.

"He has a tremendous amount of experience in the area of administration," Simmons said. "He will have no problem transferring that experience from the college level of administration to the university level of administration."

Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration Cheryl Maranto said Shrock was an excellent choice to take over as acting provost.

"He has earned the respect of the other deans,' Maranto said. "He has a reputation for being fair, objective and data-driven in his decision making."

Maranto said Shrock would retain his duties in the College of Business Administration, though she has picked up any slack left over from Shrock's dual role.

Shrock said he has ample experience in the field of administration within colleges.

"I have been an administrator for 20 years," Shrock said. "I have served as the assistant dean of the Graduate School at Arizona State University, as well as the associate dean of the College of Business at ASU. I served as dean of the College of Business at Iowa State University and filled that same position at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina."

Shrock also spoke of his experience outside of administration fields within colleges and universities.

"In addition to my college administrative duties I have served on and chaired numerous university committees and task forces at each of the institutions where I have worked," Shrock said in an e-mail interview.

Shrock, however, did not see any special reason he was chosen over the other deans act as provost in Wake's stead.

"There are many fine people here at Marquette who could fill this role on an interim basis," Shrock said. "I am just trying to do the best I can to help out in a time of need and help things move along in the direction Dr. Wake has set."

Shrock holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the General Motors Institute, a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University and a doctorate in business adminstration.

"Things are going well," Shrock said. "The Office of the Provost has a tremendous administrative team and support staff. They have been very supportive and helpful."

Shrock said he had not encountered anything unexpected while filling in as the interim provost. He attributed the smoothness of his transition to the way the Office of the Provost has been run since its creation in 2002. He also said his five years of experience at Marquette have been of great help to him in the past week and a half.