richard a. klein was hired away from being the principal of the laguardia high school to be the founding provost of nwsa. in april 1994 the executive board reduced richard klein's contract to one year and began looking for a replacement. d. hansen became interim provost for the 1995-96 school year, replaced by bennett lentczner, who served until 1999. several provosts have served since then. since the 2009 school year, dr. jeffrey hodgson has been provost.