Chicago — Eric A. Gislason, a longtime senior administrator and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will be recommended to serve as interim chancellor of UIC by University of Illinois President B. Joseph White.

The recommendation of Gislason, subject to approval by the university’s Board of Trustees executive committee later this month, comes with the concurrence of the UIC Senate Executive Committee, White said. Gislason would serve as interim chancellor until a permanent replacement for outgoing Chancellor Sylvia Manning is in place.

In almost four decades of service to UIC, Dr. Gislason has distinguished himself as a teacher, scholar, department head, interim dean of liberal arts and sciences, and most recently as vice chancellor for research,” White said. “He has the respect of the entire campus community and is the ideal choice to head UIC while the search is underway for the next leader of an institution well on its way to becoming the nation’s premier urban public research university.”

“Dr. Gislason will work in partnership with Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Michael Tanner, who during his five years at UIC has been involved in virtually all matters academic and operational, to ensure continuity in leadership of UIC in the months ahead as we complete the search for a permanent chancellor,” White said.

Manning announced last summer that she would retire from UIC effective Dec. 31, and a national search for her successor is underway. White said candidates would be interviewed during the winter and spring and that a chancellor appointment is anticipated effective sometime next summer.

"I am deeply honored by this appointment and look forward to serving this campus in a new and exciting role,” said Gislason, who as vice chancellor for research since 1999 has presided over a substantial increase in funded research at UIC. The campus now ranks 47th in the nation in federal research funding, one of the best measures of faculty excellence.

Gislason added that once the new chancellor is in place, he plans to retire from UIC and complete writing a book about thermodynamics.

Gislason joined UIC in 1969 and served as head of chemistry from 1993-1999 and interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1997-1998 before being named vice chancellor for research. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard.

As interim chancellor, Gislason will oversee Chicago’s largest university, with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff and a budget of $1.6 billion. UIC consists of 15 colleges, including the nation’s largest college of medicine and regional health sciences sites in Peoria, Rockford, Urbana-Champaign and the Quad Cities. UIC also operates the State of Illinois’s major public medical center, with its hospital and clinics serving more than 600,000 patient visits annually.

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