University of Michigan provost Martha Pollack will become Cornell University's 14th president.
Cornell University made the announcement today. She is expected to assume the presidency of Cornell on April 17, 2017. Cornell began searching for a new president after the death of their previous president, Elizabeth Garrett, last March.
More from Pollack:
“I am humbled and honored to have been elected to lead this great university,” Pollack said. “As a private university with a public mission, Cornell is the embodiment of my own deeply held belief in the ability of knowledge to improve the human condition. I can’t wait to get started, and I look forward to meeting and working with Cornell’s outstanding faculty, students, staff and alumni in Ithaca, New York City and around the globe.”
As provost at the University of Michigan, Pollack is the chief academic officer and is in charge of setting academic priorities and budgets. She will continue as U of M provost through January 31, 2017.
Pollack, a computer scientist who specialized in artificial intelligence, first joined the University of Michigan's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2000. She then went on to become dean of the U of M's School of Information, and then vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs before becoming provost in 2013.
More from University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel on today's announcement (from the The University Record):
President Mark Schlissel called Pollack's accomplishments "extraordinary" during her 16-year career at U-M. "She has led our efforts to hold down tuition, boost financial aid, reduce class sizes and enhance the quality of Michigan's world-class education," Schlissel said.
An interim provost is expected to be announced before a national search takes place for U of M's next provost.
Pollack has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 2000.
