Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that longtime University of Illinois Police Officer and Interim Chief Jeff Christensen has been selected to lead the department permanently, pending approval of the Board of Trustees.  A committee recommended the hiring of Chief Christensen as the department's Chief and the University's Director of Public Safety, positions he has held on an interim basis since the February departure of Chief Barbara O'Connor.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, Chief Christensen was one of the campus's first student-patrol supervisors.  He was hired as a campus patrol officer in 1985, promoted to lieutenant in 1998, and has been the department's Deputy Chief and Assistant Director since 2009.  Chief Christensen was the 1998 recipient of the Chancellor's Distinguished Staff Award.

Chief Christensen's extensive experience with the University and its Police Department will enable him to more easily share his vast experience and to develop strategies that safely lead our campus well into the future.  

I want to thank the search committee and Rene Romano, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, who led the committee.

Please join me in congratulating Chief Christensen as he begins this new leadership role.

Sincerely,

Phyllis M. Wise
Vice President, University of Illinois
Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign