Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Planning Forrest Maltzman will serve as the interim provost starting next semester, the University announced Wednesday.

University President Steven Knapp said in the release that he will work closely with Provost Steven Lerman, who will step down in January, and Maltzman throughout the transition this fall before launching a national search to permanently replace Lerman.

“Forrest Maltzman very effectively managed our last university-wide accreditation process and, after joining the Provost’s Office, played a key role in the development of our strategic plan,” Knapp said. “His appointment as interim provost will ensure that our implementation of the plan continues to advance through this interim period.”

In August, Lerman announced he would step down at the end of the calendar year. After a yearlong sabbatical in California, Lerman will return to GW as the A. James Clark Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Maltzman, who has served in his senior vice provost position since 2011, is credited with helping GW to complete major projects like the Science and Engineering Hall and the strategic plan. He helped to weather the University through an admissions data scandal and guided GW through a University-wide accreditation process nearly a decade ago.

Maltzman previously served as chair of the political science department for three years before joining the provost’s office. He arrived at GW as a member of the political science faculty in 1993 and has written at least four books in the field.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

The administrator has been one of the more visible members of the provost’s office on campus, moderating town halls on topics like transitioning students from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design into the GW community and on benefits for GW employees.