U-M Ann Arbor Tabs New President; Dearborn Searches On

Harrison Stidolph Editor-in-Chief

Photo//Michigan Daily

Kent Syverud, President and Chancellor of Syracuse University, has been named the 16th President of UM-Ann Arbor -- and he's the first U-M alumnus to do the job in nearly a century.

But while the bustle of the alum’s transition into the big house grabs the attention of U-M students and faculty, the search for a new Chancellor on UM-Dearborn’s campus remains open.

Leadership changes began in early May – after UM-Ann Arbor President Santa J. Ono’s announced his departure, the university announced within the week that UM-Dearborn Chancellor Domenico Grasso would become Interim President, while UM-Dearborn Provost Gabriella Scarlatta would be elevated to Interim Chancellor.

“I am excited about what lies ahead, but I am also sad to be leaving one of the best jobs in higher education,” said Grasso in a May 8 email, expressing his sentiments for the Dearborn campus and his confidence in Scarlatta’s leadership.

“I am confident she will continue to advance our strategic initiatives and present innovative ideas to move the campus forward,” he said.

The Office of the President officially launched a search for UM-Dearborn’s new chancellor via email on Nov. 4, announcing that UM-Dearborn Interim Provost Ghassan Kridli and UM-Flint Chancellor Laurence Alexander would co-chair a chancellor search committee.

The committee, made up of 16 staff and faculty representatives across all 3 campuses, included in Grasso’s announcement that they would begin with public listening sessions to take place in late November.

As part of the search, emails from Provost Kridli reached out to faculty and students providing updates on the search, as well as announcements before the listening sessions.

In the updates, Kridli invites community members to submit candidate nominations and input on desired qualities via links from Russell Reynolds Associates, an executive search firm partnered with the university.

In the latest of the emails, Kridli requested for community members to submit their own nominations for chancellor candidates, which he sent out Dec. 18. No email updates have since been released.

“Everybody has a vision,” said Kridli in a Nov. 12 UM-Dearborn press release. “This is such an important position that shapes the future of the campus. We really want to hear from as many people as we can,” he said.

In the wake of Syverud’s appointment, President Grasso will be stepping away from the university completely. He had previously expressed his intentions to retire at the end of his interim role, according to an announcement by Chancellor Scarlatta on Nov. 12.

A long search for new leadership is nothing new to UM-Dearborn’s history; former faculty member Bernard W. Klein served as interim or acting chancellor 3 times over a 30 year period. His latest term lasted 11 months, from July 1999-June 2000.

When asked about the selection timeline and Chancellor Scarlatta’s plans after the university hires new leadership, U-M Public Affairs and the UM-Dearborn Office of the Provost both failed to comment.