The University of Michigan has named Dr. Mark Schlissel as the school's 14th President.
On a unanimous vote this morning the University of Michigan Board of Regents, chose to hire Brown University Provost, Dr. Mark Schlissel to serve as Mary Sue Coleman's successor.
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Schlissel comes to the U of M from Brown University where he has been provost since July of 2011. Prior to working at Brown, he served as Dean of Biological Sciences in the College of Letters and Science at the University of California–Berkeley.
Schlissel says the health of the university is connected to the community and the entire state of Michigan. He says the Victors for Michigan fundraising campaign will be important to maintain the university's high quality programs.
Schlissel says the breadth of academic excellence and the openness and accessibility of a public university made U of M one of the tiny handful of places that would make him consider leaving Brown University. He says academic excellence and diversity are linked. Schlissel says that's because students can learn from other students that look at the world differently.
Schlissel will begin serving on July first, following the official retirement of current president Mary Sue Coleman. He says he will make frequent trips to Ann Arbor over the next several months to learn more about the challenges and opportunities he will face when starting work at Michigan.
Coleman says she's thrilled the regents have chosen another biochemist to serve as president. She says Schlissel will soon see being the President of the University of Michigan is the best job in the world.
— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
