The University of Delaware Board of Trustees elected Dennis Assanis to be the new president of the University of Delaware.
He was provost of Stony Brook University in New York state.
It was frequently mentioned that the new president would work to improve diversity of the university, which has come under fire in that area.
A search committee was formed to find a president headed by financial executive Donald Puglisi and-and Teri Kelly, the CEO of W.L. Gore and Associates.
The president succeeds Patrick Harker who left the post to become the new president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The selection remained a secret, with few if any information leaks.
The selection was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees.
He is expected to take the post in 2016.
Speaking with a trace of the accent of his native Greece, Assanis praised the university for the quality of its faculty and students.
“UD has it all,” Assanis said, adding that he will work to keep education affordable while maintaining its research presence.
He praised the STAR Campus, the site of the former Chrysler Assembly Plant.
He also praised Harker for his work in bringing the university to its current position.
Interim President Nancy Targett said he will work to ease the transition to a new president.
In a press conference following the announcement the new president said he supports online learning, but added that it is not a substitute for the university experience.
Harker had drawn fire for his involvement with a university start-up that has student studying overseas during much of the time they are working for their degree.
Assanis said diversity issues facing the university are no different than issues facing other institutions of higher learning.
Assanis will face a restless faculty that had been concerned about Harker suggesting that changes might be needed in regard to tenure and teaching loads.
One hundred applied or were nominated for the post.
U.S. Sen Chris Coons issued the following statement:
“Congratulations to the University of Delaware community on the naming of the University of Delaware’s new president, Dennis Assanis,” said Sen. Coons.
“I want to thank interim president Nancy Targett for taking up the position and holding the office during the search. She has done an excellent job in helping to guide the process. I look forward to working with her and her team again when she returns as the head of the College of Earth, Ocean & Environment,” Coons stated.
He concluded: “I welcome President Assanis to Delaware and to the university community. I look forward to working with him and his administration on advancing the University’s academic excellence and internationally known research facilities as well as working together to address challenges at UD, such as college accessibility, affordability, and student diversity.”
