Board of Trustees Announces Jeremy Haefner as the University of Denver's 19th Chancellor

Dear members of the DU community,
 

It is my great privilege to share that, during its quarterly meeting last Friday, June 7, the University of Denver Board of Trustees enthusiastically voted to appoint Jeremy Haefner as our next and 19th chancellor, effective July 15, 2019.

Since April when Chancellor Chopp announced her decision to step down in July, the executive committee of the Board has engaged with the Faculty Senate, vice chancellors, deans, several affinity groups, the broad community, and national experts in higher education to explore what DU needs and wants in its 19th chancellor. The Board evaluated the highly competitive nature of the current and future higher education landscape. We took into account the importance of sustaining the focus and momentum our community has created through the hard work of so many on campus, as well as the university’s—and the Board’s—profound commitment to an environment of diversity and inclusivity. DU’s excellence is paramount, our trajectory is exciting, and the community is well positioned to make significant progress toward achieving our goals.

After extensive study, many consultations, and much reflection, the Board heartily concluded that our community has, in Jeremy, a national thought leader in student and faculty success, a great communicator, and an individual personally committed to advancing the University and further expanding our diverse and inclusive community and shared values. Since he arrived on campus, Jeremy has demonstrated that he is uniquely capable of carrying forward and enhancing the vision of our strategic plan, DU IMPACT 2025.

This past year, Jeremy has done remarkable work as provost and executive vice chancellor. He has championed transparency and respect for shared governance by deepening faculty and administrative governance systems. Jeremy spearheaded efforts to share more regular and thorough updates on the budget process, created more open and frequent lines of communication, and embodied respect for our teacher-scholar model. He has engaged our campus in the implementation of DU IMPACT 2025 by creating an exciting path for undergraduate and graduate education that will distinguish DU, solidify our value proposition, and position the University for the coming demographic challenges that will affect enrollment.

Jeremy’s ability to effectively chart an exciting and successful future for the University is evidence of both his and the Board’s confidence in the strength of our campus community and the shared vision you all have created for DU. We are delighted he has agreed to accept the role of chancellor.

We want to share with you next steps. First, the Board emphasizes its commitment to engaging with the campus community. Jeremy and I will reach out to numerous constituent groups in the next several days including, but not limited to SOCA, FOCA, Faculty Senate, QUA/QFA, and women’s leadership groups. This consultative process will continue this fall when classes commence.

Second, Jeremy will now need to consider the next steps for the post he is vacating. After consulting with the Faculty Senate and various faculty groups, he will announce a national search for the next provost and executive vice chancellor at DU—a role that will be ably filled by Corinne Lengsfeld in an interim capacity this next year. Soon thereafter, Jeremy will also launch a national search for our next vice chancellor of advancement, soon to be vacated by Armin Afsahi. And, as you know, Jeremy is also focused on the current search for our vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion.

Upon joining DU in 2018, Jeremy served as a faculty member and academic leader in higher education for nearly three decades. Before joining us, he served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) for 10 years. There, Jeremy worked with the faculty to develop and implement RIT’s academic direction to ensure the success and effectiveness of its academic colleges, graduate studies, institutes, and three global campuses.

Chancellor Chopp expresses her unwavering support for Jeremy and echoes the comments she made when she introduced him to the DU community last year. In Jeremy, “…we have found a leader who listens with great care, collaborates to solve issues and create new possibilities, and shares our passion to serve and build the public good.”

Jeremy holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. His publications can be found in Communications in Algebra, the Journal of Algebra, American Mathematical Society journals, and others. He also publishes on issues and topics in higher education, including supporting diversity in university leadership and enriching the student experience.

Jeremy intends to spend the summer and the fall quarter meeting with numerous campus constituencies, students, and alumni, learning still more about the community’s needs and priorities and further developing a collective vision for how best to continue building upon DU IMPACT 2025.

Jeremy and his wife, Maurin, look forward to expanding their roles in this community.  Please join me in congratulating Jeremy. We are thrilled to have found our next highly qualified leader right here among us.

Denise O’Leary, Chair
University of Denver Board of Trustees