Robert Hardie and Rachel Sheridan, outgoing and incoming Rectors of the Board of Visitors, announced Monday that Jennifer Wagner Davis, executive vice president and chief operating officer, will serve as acting University President effective on the date when President Jim Ryan formally leaves his position and until an interim President is appointed.
The announcement, sent via email to the community, did not specify when President Ryan would officially step down from his position. When he announced his resignation, President Ryan noted that he would step down no later than August 15. The Board will appoint an interim President to take over from Davis, although Hardie and Sheridan did not specify when the Board would make this selection.
As acting president, Davis will work with Brie Gertler, interim executive vice president and provost, and Mitchell Rosner, interim executive vice president and chief executive officer of Health Affairs. Following former Provost Ian Baucom’s departure for Middlebury College and former CEO of Health Affairs Craig Kent’s resignation, interim leaders now hold three of the University’s highest leadership positions.
Hardie and Sheridan noted that this plan is in accordance with the University’s Continuity of Operations Plan which outlines contingencies in leadership positions, including after the University president resigns.
The email explained that following a vacancy in the position of University President, the Board manual requires the Rector to promptly convene a search committee which will recommend an individual to the Board. Hardie and Sheridan said that this process will begin shortly and will be composed of a “full range of stakeholders,” including students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Ryan submitted a letter of resignation Thursday, which Hardie accepted on behalf of the Board, following pressure from the Department of Justice to resign or risk the University losing federal funding and financial aid.
Hardie and Sheridan, in their email, recognized the outpouring of sorrow from community members in the wake of Ryan’s resignation.
“Based on his outstanding record as president, it should come as no surprise that one of Jim’s last acts in office put the needs of the University ahead of his own,” Hardie and Sheridan wrote.
Hardie and Sheridan also said that the University’s mission — which they described as developing citizen leaders, advancing knowledge and providing medical care — as well as the autonomy of higher education are more vital than ever. However, Hardie and Sheridan also noted that the University, as a public research university, must maintain its partnership with state and federal governments.
“We must ensure that our community is one where open dialogue, innovative research, and academic freedom not only persist but flourish; and, as a public research university, we must maintain our partnership with the Commonwealth and the federal government,” Hardie and Sheridan wrote.
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