STORRS Conn.
The vice president and provost of the University
of Iowa has been selected as 14th
president of the University of Connecticut,
officials said Wednesday.
Michael J. Hogan, who has been Iowa’s
top academic officer since 2004, will replace outgoing UConn president Philip
E. Austin. Austin was president of
UConn for more than 10 years before announcing plans last year to retire in
September.
The university’s 33-member search committee selected Hogan
as its unanimous choice after a nationwide search, and UConn’s Board of
Trustees named him to the post at its meeting Wednesday.
Hogan is slated to start in mid-September.
“Michael Hogan is the ideal candidate to lead our
state’s flagship public university,” Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. “He is
committed to excellence, and he shares my vision for the young people who go to
UConn to prepare for their futures.”
Hogan, who specializes in the history of American diplomacy,
held several positions at The Ohio State University before going to University
of Iowa.
His responsibilities at Iowa
have included overseeing academic programs and services, academic planning,
advising the president on health sciences issues, and promoting diversity in
the faculty and student body.
He also worked on university fundraising efforts, student
recruitment and programs to boost academic and research quality. Hogan also has
written or edited nine books and numerous scholarly articles and essays
throughout his academic career, according to UConn officials.
“I was attracted to UConn by its steep upward
trajectory, its outstanding academic reputation and by the demonstrated
commitment to UConn by the governor and the General Assembly,” Hogan said
after his appointment was announced.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University
of Northern Iowa and a master’s
degree and Ph.D. in history from the University
of Iowa. He and his wife, Virginia,
have four adult children.
UConn has almost 28,500 students, about 23,500 at the Storrs
campus. The university also has separate schools of law and social work in Hartford,
five regional campuses throughout the state and schools of medicine and
dentistry at the UConn Health
Center in Farmington.
Austin announced
in December 2006 that he intended to resign in September, telling the Board of
Trustees in his resignation letter he believes “the time has now come for
me to prepare to leave the presidency and open the way for new
leadership.”
He also said he thinks it would be a “great
advantage” for UConn to have a new president who would be in the spot long
enough to shepherd several upcoming multiyear projects.
They include a major fundraising drive and 21st Century
UConn, a $2.3 billion project to upgrade and expand facilities at the UConn
campuses.
A government commission found problems in 2005 with that
program, which was plagued by fire and safety code violations, financial
discrepancies and tens of millions of dollars in budget overruns.
The General Assembly later passed a bill to impose tighter
oversight and financial controls over the projects, ordering inspections of all
new university construction until the 20-year construction program ends in
2015.
– Associated Press
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
