By Kyle Swanson, Daily News Editor
Published January 25, 2010
Philip Hanlon will be named as the next University's provost and executive vice president of academic affairs in an announcement expected to be made later today.
Courtesy of University of Michigan
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Hanlon, who currently serves as the Donald J. Lewis Professor of Mathematics and vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs, will assume the position on July 1 under a five-year contract. He will succeed current University Provost Teresa Sullivan, who is set to leave the University on July 31 to assume the presidency at the University of Virginia. During the month of July, Sullivan will serve as special counselor to the president.
Coleman’s selection of Hanlon as the next University provost is contingent upon approval by the University’s Board of Regents at its Feb. 18 meeting. Today’s announcement comes just two weeks after Sullivan announced her intention to leave the University.
When Sullivan announced that she would be leaving her post for Charlottesville, University officials and Sullivan herself said her replacement would need to have experience as both an academic and budgetary administrator.
Hanlon, who is no stranger to the University community, has experience in both academic and financial management. He joined the University faculty in 1986 as an associate professor of mathematics, before becoming a full professor in 1990. In the last decade Hanlon has risen through the administration's ranks, becoming the associate vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs in 2004. His title was changed to vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs in 2007.
In a statement set to be released later today, Coleman praised Hanlon as the right choice for the important post, which is responsible for overseeing all academic operations of the university and the general fund budget.
“Phil Hanlon has been exceptional in guiding academic programs and initiatives affecting all facets of the University,” Coleman wrote in the statement. “In particular, his command of budgetary issues has been critical to the University’s financial stability during challenging economic times. His appointment as provost reflects his distinct strengths as a teacher, scholar, administrator and leader.”
In the same statement, Hanlon wrote he felt privileged to have been selected for the position.
“The University of Michigan is an exceptional institution, at the forefront of public research universities,” Hanlon wrote. “I’m excited and deeply honored to have the opportunity to serve as provost.”
Choosing a successor from within the University community is consistent with University tradition — Sullivan was the first University of Michigan provost recruited from outside the University in more than 50 years.
The choice of Sullivan, who came to the University from the University of Texas at Austin, raised many concerns among University faculty in 2006, with some alleging that Coleman had applied pressure on the search committee to give preference to an outsider, since Coleman herself first joined the University when she became president.
No information on how Hanlon was selected for the post and whether any advisory search committee or national search firm was used in choosing the next provost was available yesterday.
However, when Sullivan announced she would leave the University, University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said officials were happy with the advance notice Sullivan provided.
“We’re fortunate that the provost has given the University time to consider the next steps in the process,” Cunningham wrote in an e-mail at the time.
When Sullivan announced she planned to leave the University to become the University of Virginia’s next president, she told The Michigan Daily she was confident her successor, though not named at that time, would need to be able to balance competing interests.
