MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota's Board of Regents voted to select Dr. Rebecca Cunningham to serve as the 18th president of the university.
Cunningham, who holds a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College, is currently the vice president for research and innovation at the University of Michigan, where she's served on the faculty of the Univ. of Michigan's Schools of Public Health and Medicine since 1999.
"I’m feeling very excited and a fair amount of relief," said Dr. Cunningham. "I’m grateful for the opportunity to move forward."
Dr. Cunningham was selected unanimously by the board in a 12-0 vote, following interviews with fellow finalists Dr. Laura Bloomberg, the current president of Cleveland State University, and Dr. James Holloway, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Cunningham takes over as the U of M grapples with declining enrollment, safety concerns and the future of its hospital and medical programs. Financial challenges continue to hamper the agreement the University has with M Health Fairview.
"I understand and am completely fluent in the language of health and the issues facing the medical school here," said Dr. Cunningham. "And, I bring before that, years of experience as an educator and faculty member educating undergraduates and master degree students, and so I'm fully immersed and have years of experience in higher education leadership."
Dr. Cunningham is expected to start in July and would succeed Joan T.A. Gabel, who left the U of M in 2023 for a chancellor job at the University of Pittsburgh.
Gabel, by the way, was one of several past U of M presidents who were the school's sole finalist.
The Regents called this search "historic" because of the number of front-runners and how transparent the process played out, even changing its open meeting laws to make it more public.
Other universities across the country will often make similar decisions in executive sessions, behind closed doors.
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