The SUNY Board of Trustees ended an almost two-year search for a new chancellor Feb. 10 when it unanimously voted to appoint Nancy L. Zimpher to the post.
Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati, will be SUNY’s first female chancellor when she starts June 1.
UUP President Phillip Smith said Zimpher’s experience will serve SUNY well during one of the University’s worst financial crises.
“Based on her resume, we are optimistic she will bring the steady leadership that is so vital to SUNY, as it faces the serious financial challenges caused by state budget cutbacks,” Smith said. “UUP stands ready to work with Dr. Zimpher to send the message that SUNY is the solution to improve our state’s economy.”
Following the vote, Zimpher was handed a “SUNY is the Solution” button by UAlbany President Candace Merbler, and pinned it on. “I come with incredible enthusiasm,” Zimpher said.
Carl Wiezalis, a member of UUP’s Upstate Medical University Chapter, is also a SUNY trustee. He called Zimpher “a visionary and transformational figure in higher education.“
The chancellor search began in November 2007. A search committee interviewed 10 candidates out of 297 who applied for the job. Zimpher was the committee’s overwhelming choice.
Zimpher, 62, will be paid $545,400 as SUNY’s chancellor. She also will have use of SUNY-owned apartments in Albany and Manhattan, as well as a driver and car. Chair Carl Hayden said the salary agreement was “fair and recognizes the financial realities of these times.”
Zimpher comes to SUNY as the University faces deep state budget reductions that so far total $148 million. Campuses are bracing for more cuts as Gov. David Paterson and state legislators work on a new state budget.
Students on several SUNY campuses have protested SUNY tuition increases—a $310 per-student hike for the spring 2009 semester and $620 increase for 2009-10—claiming that Gov. David Paterson is attempting to balance the budget on the backs of students and parents.
During a press conference after the trustees’ vote, Zimpher noted the need for a strategic plan for SUNY and said she would work to raise the University’s academic quality and make it less difficult for transfer students to move through SUNY schools.
Zimpher came to the University of Cincinnati in 2003. Previously, she served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee (1998-2003) and was the Executive Dean of the Professional Colleges at Ohio State University.
— Michael Lisi