Chancellor Syverud to take top job at University of Michigan

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud has been selected as the next president of the University of Michigan. MLive.com first reported the news Sunday afternoon. Syverud then confirmed the move in a campus-wide email on Monday afternoon. The University of Michigan’s Board of Regents elected Syverud on Monday.

“While few opportunities could draw me away from Central New York, I have been offered and accepted the position of President of the University of Michigan,” Syverud wrote in his email.

Syveryd will replace interim President Domenico Grasso, who started serving as UM’s president last May. The chancellor announced his departure from Syracuse University in a campuswide email last August. He will step down from his position as chancellor “after much reflection,” he wrote then. 

Syverud has served as Syracuse University chancellor since 2014. His previous positions ​​include dean at Washington University School of Law and Vanderbilt University Law School. 

The search for Syracuse’s next chancellor is still ongoing. The Board of Trustees wrote in an email last October that it aims to have finalists this month and select Syverud’s replacement this spring. 

Later Monday afternoon, Jeff Scruggs, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, wrote to the Syracuse University community to congratulate Syverud. He added that the committee’s search is progressing and has attracted “excellent candidates.”

“Chancellor Syverud’s appointment to Michigan is a testament to Syracuse’s strength and the caliber of leadership our university cultivates,” Scruggs wrote.

Syverud attended Michigan for his master’s and law degree and was on the faculty at the UM law school from 1987 to 1997, according to MLive.com. He described returning to Michigan as a “homecoming” for him and his wife, Dr. Ruth Chen, who met at Michigan as students. Dr. Chen is a Professor of Practice at Syracuse University in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Syverud will begin a five-year term as Michigan’s president by July 1, according to the university.