November 23, 2015

Dear colleagues:

I am pleased to announce that Antoinette Burton has agreed to chair the 15-member committee that will advise me in our search for the next permanent chancellor and vice president of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Burton brings more than 15 years of experience as a teacher, researcher and administrator on the Urbana-Champaign campus. A University Scholar in 2001-2004 and John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship winner in 2010, she is a noted historian of 19th and 20th century Britain and its empire and former head of the Department of History. She also currently serves as interim director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, which promotes interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts and social sciences.

I am grateful to her and other members for sharing their time and talents on the Committee to Advise the President on the Selection of a New Chancellor, who were announced earlier. I look forward to working with the advisory committee and having our next chancellor on board in time for the fall 2016 semester.

Further information about the search will be provided on a University of Illinois website that will be launched soon, and I will continue to update you on opportunities to provide input into the search process.  
 
There is no question we will find an exceptional leader. This campus is truly one of the world’s best, with a nearly 150-year legacy of achievement and the potential to redefine higher education for the 21st century. I look forward to working with you as we add a new colleague who will help chart our future.

Sincerely,
Tim