Dear University community,
Earlier this year, UMSL Chancellor Tom George announced his decision to retire, effective Sept. 1, 2019. Pending approval by the Board of Curators in August, I plan to appoint Dr. Kristin Sobolik, UMSL provost and executive vice chancellor, as interim chancellor. She will concurrently serve as the Provost.
Dr. Sobolik has served UMSL with distinction and has displayed the type of leadership that is needed during this time. I have confidence that Dr. Sobolik will continue moving UMSL forward and providing the necessary support to faculty, staff and students as they work toward excellence in research, teaching and service.
Dr. Sobolik has held leadership positions at the University of Maine, Wright State University and UMSL. During her time at UMSL, she has led a successful reaccreditation process for the university, initiated an academic review process to ensure that UMSL is responding to student demands and industry needs, launched a curriculum alignment process and introduced six new academic programs.
Dr. Sobolik received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Iowa, and a master’s degree and doctorate in anthropology from Texas A&M University. As a nationally recognized scholar who helped develop the fields of archaeobiology and paleonutrition, Dr. Sobolik has more than 100 scientific publications, books and presentations, including many in top publications such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Current Anthropology, Journal of Field Archaeology and PLoS One. As a professor, she has directed nearly 20 graduate student thesis and dissertation projects and taught undergraduate and graduate classes in several areas, including archaeobiology and interdisciplinary areas.
Her appointment will stay in effect until we name a permanent chancellor. The process for a national search for the chancellor will be shared with the UMSL community during the fall semester.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Sobolik on this appointment, and again, my thanks to Chancellor George for his service to UMSL.
Sincerely,
Mun Y. Choi, Ph.D.
President, University of Missouri System
Reviewed 2019-07-19