Less than one month after the announcement of Garnett Stokes as MU’s interim chancellor, a permanent selection will be announced by the UM System Board of Curators Wednesday at 1 p.m.
According to reporting from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, State University of New York Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Alexander Cartwright will likely be announced to fill the chancellor position permanently — a year and a half after the resignation of former Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin following the protests of November 2015.
UM System spokesman John Fougere declined to confirm or deny the report.
“While we expect an announcement of a new MU Chancellor soon, we are maintaining our policy of confidentiality of any possible candidates at this time,” Fougere said in an email.
According to a news release from UM System President Mun Choi, the UM System will officially announce the new chancellor Wednesday afternoon at Reynolds Alumni Center on MU’s campus.
Cartwright will be the first person to serve in the chancellor position permanently since Loftin’s resignation at the end of 2015, which came after a series of controversies including protests held by activist groups on campus.
Former interim Chancellor Hank Foley served in the position from Jan. 1, 2016 to May 2 of this year when he left MU to serve as the president of the New York Institute of Technology, a position he will officially begin June 1. According to a statement he released last November, he initially expressed interest in filling the position permanently.
On May 3, Stokes, who also serves as executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, took over the interim chancellor position.
Cartwright has served in his positions at SUNY since 2014, according to the university’s website. During his time at SUNY, a 64-campus system, he also served as acting president of the research foundation for SUNY, where he oversaw more than $1 billion in research activity annually.
He also established the position of vice chancellor for research and economic development at the university. Which, according to SUNY’s [website](https://www.suny.edu/about/leadership/senior-staff/alexander-cartwright/), supports research efforts of faculty and aims to establish and develop business and industry partnerships — a goal that the UM System Board of Curators spoke about extensively during their [April meeting.](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2017/5/2/short-term-long-term-facility-renovations-consider/)
Before moving into an administrative role, Cartwright worked as an engineering faculty member at SUNY’s University at Buffalo. He received his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Iowa.
In November, Cartwright was one of three finalists for the chancellor position at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Cartwright’s appointment has yet to be confirmed by the UM System or MU.
_Edited by Cassie Allen | callen@themaneater.com_