UConn Selects Susan Herbst As New President

As Dr. Susan Herbst stared out over dozens of reporters, University of Connecticut officials and state lawmakers Monday afternoon in Storrs, she took a moment to soak in the awesome responsibility before her.

Herbst, a respected academic leader, longtime educator, accomplished author and political junkie, became UConn's fifteenth president. She is the first woman to hold the office and possibly the university's youngest president.

"She is exactly the kind of president we've been looking for," Board of Trustees Chairman Lawrence McHugh said Monday. "She has exceptional leadership abilities, a strong academic background and an in-depth understanding of public education."

"Hers is the face of the future of UConn," Gov. M. Jodi Rell said of Herbst. "She brings youth and vitality to the position that will galvanize the university system, its students, their parents, faculty and staff."

"It is a great honor to be the next president of the University of Connecticut," said Herbst, 48, adding that the university is the "envy of the nation, and I hope to make it even better."

"My loss is certainly Connecticut's gain," said Willis Potts, chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia, where Herbst serves as the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. Herbst begins her tenure at UConn in July 2011.

"She has done fabulous things for us here in Georgia," Potts said.

During her three-year tenure in Georgia, Herbst has overseen a system that includes 35 associate and baccalaureate institutions, 311,000 students and 10,000 faculty members with a budget in excess of $6 billion. Potts said she has helped to restructure the core curriculum making it easier for students to transfer between the two- and four-year institutions. She has continued to teach, acting most recently as a professor of public policy at Georgia Tech.

Described as an avid basketball fan, Herbst earned her undergraduate degree in political science from Duke University. Also known as an energetic and infectiously optimistic woman, Potts said he's not sure if Herbst ever sleeps.

Through her positions with the Georgia and State University of New York systems, and prior to that at Temple and Northwestern universities, Herbst proved that she is not intimidated by having to make difficult decisions if it means improving the overall health of the academic environment for students and staff.

In an Oct. 29 letter to UConn search committee, Herbst wrote of having to terminate the jobs of several underperforming faculty, staff and high-ranking administrators. She also wrote of her experience being part of several successful capital campaigns.

"I am so pleased, not just because she is a woman… but she is a capable woman,"  Louise M. Bailey, a 40-year university trustee, remarked after the announcement. "She is enthusiastic, capable and fun. She has a 'wow' factor."

Gov. Rell, who will leave office in January, said the selection process was a challenging one.

The university received more than 100 applications for the position, with the search committee narrowing the field to 55 and then 17. The final 10, seven of which are current sitting university presidents, were chosen for in-person interviews that were held in a conference room at the Sheraton Hotel near Bradley Airport, according to a member of the committee. One applicant withdrew and the final three were chosen.

The finalists, including Herbst, visited the university last week and met one more time with the executive search committee at the airport hotel on Dec. 16.

Rell said Herbst has been given an "awesome responsibility in the oldest sense" of the word.

"It's an awe inspiring role… it is an opportunity to mold the minds of tens of thousands of students and to manage and improve a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and frankly, to work with some of the most creative, brilliant minds in our society," Rell said.

Gov.-elect Dan Malloy said that he looks forward to partnering with Herbst to "work on behalf not just on our students and faculty on this campus, and its other campuses, but to make sure that we do all we can to revive our economy produce jobs, to present a labor force ready to accept challenges on an international competition basis."

As president, Herbst said she will be open to suggestions on ways to better the state's flagship university, will be mindful of the "precious state and federal dollars" invested in UConn and will nurture and care for its students.

"America is in a down mood, if you listen to the pundits, but not at UConn, where thousands of ambitious and talented young people are ready to change the world," Herbst said.

"A university with big dreams and all of this talent in a state that supports higher education with so much passion cannot falter… This is our time. While other university's panic and wring their hands about the future. We will be busy planning for a bold future with the governor, with the legislators with all of our stakeholders in our community," she said.

Herbst said she is still familiarizing herself with the university, but areas she might want to improve are the university's research mission, partially by hiring more or restructuring faculty positions, bettering the retention and graduation rate and becoming a better return on investment for the state.

And foremost, continuing to be a safe and happy place for students to achieve their academic goals.

"Student success is job number one, even before all the other fancy stuff I mentioned," she said.

Herbst said she wants people to "stop talking about being the greatest public university in the Northeast and start pushing for it to be one of the greatest public universities in the country."

"I'm excited," said Scott Brown, a professor of educational psychology  at UConn. "She has a great resume, a great background and seems to have a lot of energy. There is a general buzz here… to see two governors here launching off our new president… I think most of the community here is extremely excited."

Charles "Skip" Lowe, a professor and head of the psychology department who served on the executive search committee, said is proud to have been part of the university for more than 40 years, the past eight in particular, "but this is the most exciting."

"To have a young president who is an expert on civility… it sends a strong message," said Lowe, who is also a member of the Senate's executive committee and a member of the AAUP.

State Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, the outgoing co-chairwoman of the legislature's higher education committee, said she is impressed by Herbst's background and "scholarly work."

Of particular interest to Handley, is the new president's experience overseeing a vast state university system that includes community colleges, as well as state universities. Handley said, in her opinion, it is a model that Connecticut should consider as a means to improve the fiscal responsibility and accountability of the state's higher education institutions. She said Herbst's expertise could be a wonderful resource during such a process.

Herbst's annual salary will be $500,000, of which the UConn Foundation, a tax-exempt organization that raises money for the university, will pay $145,000, according to UConn officials. Herbst, her husband and their two children will live in the president's home on campus in an area known as Oak Hill.

Mansfield Patch Local Editor Elyssa Millspaugh contributed to this story.