In a release sent to news agencies across the state, the University of Missouri System's Board of Curators announced Monday that it plans to announce a new president Wednesday morning. The announcement event, which is slated to take place at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, will begin at 9:30 a.m.
Since former UM System President Timothy Wolfe resigned amid student protests and accusations of racism last November, deputy chancellor emeritus Michael Middleton has been serving as interim system president.
Though the board of curators has not publicly named the future system president, St. Louis Post Dispatch education reporter Ashley Jost says the pick is likely to be Mun Y. Choi, the current provost at the University of Connecticut.
Choi has an academic background, which is a diversion from the UM Board of Curators' last two hires for president. Gary Forsee and Tim Wolfe both had significant business backgrounds when they were hired to take the helm of the four campus system. According to his online profile at UConn, He received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois in 1987, and his M.A. (1989) and Ph.D. (1992) in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
From 1994-2000 he was a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department and the University of Illinois, then moved to Drexel University to be the Department Head of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean for Research. He moved to the University of Connecticut in 2008, and became Provost there in 2012.
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