“So, you certainly don’t want to rule out outside candidates, although the tradition is that people typically look inside for those candidates.”

The nature of the provost position at the University has also resulted in a long history of University provosts moving onto presidencies, either at the University or elsewhere.

Before Sullivan left for Virginia, former Provost Nancy Cantor, who held the post from 1997-2001, left the University to assume the chancellor position at the University of Illinois and then the presidency at Syracuse University. Her predecessor, Bernard Machen, left the University in 1997 after a tenure of two years to become the University of Utah’s president. After a little more than a year as provost, Charles Vest became president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990.

Dudersdadt and former University President Harold Shapiro, who later served as Princeton University’s president, are also former provosts.

While it’s still unknown who will succeed Hanlon at the University, the person will likely possess skills that will make them an attractive candidate for an eventual presidency. However, in order to be successful as provost, both on an interim and permanent basis, they must have a similar level of understanding to Hanlon regarding the University’s nuanced academic and budgetary cultures, officials said.

Ilitch praised Hanlon’s attention to the University’s budget: Despite cost-cutting efforts, Hanlon effectively kept cuts away from most of the University’s academic enterprises.

Similarly, Ilitch said the next provost needs to be “a person that has a kind of zealous commitment to the quality of the academia at the University — quality of professors, quality of the deans, being a strong people person, being very disciplined about the budget, knowing how to balance it properly so that quality doesn't suffer.”

White emphasized Hanlon’s commitment to undergraduate education, and said she expects his successor to also make an effort to improve the undergraduate experience. He has taught introductory calculus classes and a class about the University’s budgetary process during his time at the University.”

“He’s very focused on the undergraduate educational experience and how to take that experience into the next century and make sure that the classroom is a place where students and faculty are engaged in discussions and problem solving in ways that are different from their standard lecture format,” White said.

— Daily Staff Reporter Peter Shahin contributed to this report