Schools

Kaler to Depart Stony Brook in 2011 for Presidency at University of Minnesota

Stony Brook provost is 1982 graduate of Minnesota.

Stony Brook University provost Eric Kaler, who last week was named the lone finalist in the University of Minnesota's search for a new president, was formally appointed to the position Thursday after a unanimous vote by Minnesota's board of regents.

Kaler will start his new post in July of 2011, succeeding Robert Bruininks as president of a university with more than 67,000 students and 4,000 faculty members. The appointment is the culmination of a six-month search, the University of Minnesota said Thursday.

"The board's impressions – and those of the university community – are that he is a talented researcher and teacher, effective administrator and gifted communicator," said Clyde Allen, chair of the Minnesota board of regents. "These are all qualities that will serve him well as the next president of the University of Minnesota."

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Kaler himself is an alumnus of Minnesota, completing his Ph.D. in chemical engineering there in 1982. He has served Stony Brook as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs since 2007 and as vice president for Brookhaven affairs since 2008.

In an interview last week, Kaler simultaneously expressed excitement at the prospect of becoming a university president and sadness at the idea of leaving Stony Brook.

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"[Minnesota is] a great university, and it is my alma mater, but it's also very sad that I would have to leave Stony Brook, which is a very, very wonderful place," he said.


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