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U of Illinois trustees make new chancellor's hire official

Posted July 21, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - University of Illinois trustees have voted to approve the hire of Robert Jones as the new chancellor of the flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign.

Trustees voted unanimously at their meeting Thursday in Urbana to hire the 65-year-old Jones. University President Timothy Killeen announced Tuesday that Jones had been hired, pending trustees' OK.

Jones will be the first black chancellor at the 46,000-student Urbana-Champaign campus.

He is currently the president of the State University of New York at Albany and previously spent 34 years at the University of Minnesota. His background is in plant physiology.

Jones replaces Phyllis Wise, who resigned last summer. Barbara Wilson had been the interim chancellor.

University trustees also renewed the appointment of Springfield campus Chancellor Susan Koch. She has been on the job for five years.

New University of Illinois chancellor Robert Jones speaks to the media at the university Wednesday, July 20, 2016 in Urbana, Ill. Jones said that he plans to start his new job with a 100-day period of listening and asking questions rather than announcing grand plans for the school. (Rick Danzl/The News-Gazette via AP) The Associated Press

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