2008 Woodie Awards
A new chancellor, a new school
Nicholas O'Malley
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Editorial / Opinion
After over a full year since the departure of former chancellor John V. Lombardi, the recently revolving position of chancellor at the University of Massachusetts seems to be settling with Robert C. Holub beginning his first semester here at UMass.
The opening weeks of Holub's tenure will hopefully bring some peace to an issue that had first arisen when former chancellor Lombardi stepped down after what was deemed "ideological differences" between him and UMass president Jack Wilson.
For those who are new this year or simply weren't paying attention, Lombardi's departure led to the appointment of Thomas Cole, former president of Clark Atlanta University, as interim chancellor. Cole, who was not selected as a candidate for chancellor, did an honorable job of maintaining the campus while the University's search committee looked for their long term candidates. The committee eventually narrowed down the candidates from dozens to the four final candidates: Martin Hall, Harris Pastides, Satish K. Tripathi and - of course - Holub.
Holub, a New Jersey native, is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning his masters in Comparative Literature and German, as well as his doctorate in German at the latter. He then spent his next 27 years at the University of California-Berkley, working his way up from associate professor to Dean of the Undergraduate Division in the College of Letters and Science. In 2006, Holub was appointed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Holub was eventually chosen as the new chancellor after receiving President Jack Wilson's recommendation. Despite our school's occasionally riotous image, Holub saw the campus as one that "wants to move forward" and sees the potential of one of the nation's top universities in UMass.
The school's ability to improve its reputation, however, may rely on whether it can continue to be exempt from the Princeton Reviews list of top party schools. And if the school wishes to be considered one of the nation's best, it will have to improve its ranking by US News and World Report, which is currently a tie for No. 102.
The opening weeks of Holub's tenure will hopefully bring some peace to an issue that had first arisen when former chancellor Lombardi stepped down after what was deemed "ideological differences" between him and UMass president Jack Wilson.
For those who are new this year or simply weren't paying attention, Lombardi's departure led to the appointment of Thomas Cole, former president of Clark Atlanta University, as interim chancellor. Cole, who was not selected as a candidate for chancellor, did an honorable job of maintaining the campus while the University's search committee looked for their long term candidates. The committee eventually narrowed down the candidates from dozens to the four final candidates: Martin Hall, Harris Pastides, Satish K. Tripathi and - of course - Holub.
Holub, a New Jersey native, is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning his masters in Comparative Literature and German, as well as his doctorate in German at the latter. He then spent his next 27 years at the University of California-Berkley, working his way up from associate professor to Dean of the Undergraduate Division in the College of Letters and Science. In 2006, Holub was appointed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Holub was eventually chosen as the new chancellor after receiving President Jack Wilson's recommendation. Despite our school's occasionally riotous image, Holub saw the campus as one that "wants to move forward" and sees the potential of one of the nation's top universities in UMass.
The school's ability to improve its reputation, however, may rely on whether it can continue to be exempt from the Princeton Reviews list of top party schools. And if the school wishes to be considered one of the nation's best, it will have to improve its ranking by US News and World Report, which is currently a tie for No. 102.
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